Music now playing user interface

ABSTRACT

The invention is directed to an electronic device. The electronic device generates for presentation on a display a user interface including a plurality of content items, a first heading, and a second heading. While the user interface is presented on the display, the electronic device receives input scrolling the plurality of content items. In response to the input, the electronic device scrolls the plurality of content items including: scrolling the first heading with a first content item of the plurality of content items that is currently playing; and scrolling the second heading with a second content item of the plurality of content items that is next in a queue of content items.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.17/013,281 (now U.S. Publication No. 2020-0401283, published on Dec. 24,2020), filed Sep. 4, 2020, which is a continuation of U.S. applicationSer. No. 16/430,364 (now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,768,792 on Sep. 8,2020), filed Jun. 3, 2019, which is a continuation of U.S. applicationSer. No. 15/808,774 (now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,310,711 on Jun. 4,2019), filed Nov. 9, 2017, which is a continuation of U.S. applicationSer. No. 14/748,067 (now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,841,876 on Dec. 12,2017), filed Jun. 23, 2015, which claims the benefit of U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 62/016,600 filed on Jun. 24, 2014, the entiredisclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference for allpurposes.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates generally to user interfaces for a musicapplication.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

Many electronic devices provide cluttered and unintuitive userinterfaces for viewing and selecting. There is a need to provide anintuitive way to cleanly and simply display and navigate among contentitems in a queue of upcoming items and a history of recently playeditems (e.g., songs in an album, playlist, or streaming radio).

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

Many electronic devices provide cluttered and unintuitive userinterfaces for viewing and selecting content. There is a need to providean intuitive way to cleanly and simply display and navigate amongcontent items in a queue of upcoming items and a history of recentlyplayed items (e.g., songs in an album, playlist, or streaming radio).The embodiments described below provide a fast, efficient, andconvenient way for users to navigate through and select various contentitems for consumption.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the various described embodiments,reference should be made to the Detailed Description below, inconjunction with the following drawings in which like reference numeralsrefer to corresponding parts throughout the figures.

FIG. 1A is a block diagram illustrating a multifunction device with atouch-sensitive display in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 1B is a block diagram illustrating exemplary components for eventhandling in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates a multifunction device having a touch screen inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary multifunction device with adisplay and a touch-sensitive surface in accordance with someembodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary user interface for a multifunctiondevice with a touch-sensitive surface that is separate from the displayin accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary architecture for thedevice according to some embodiments of the disclosure.

FIGS. 6A-6Y illustrate an exemplary content user interface in accordancewith some embodiments of the disclosure.

FIGS. 7A-7F are flow diagrams illustrating one or more methods of acontent user interface in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 8A-8L illustrate an exemplary simplified content user interface inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure.

FIGS. 9A-9E are flow diagrams illustrating a method of a simplifiedcontent user interface in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 10-11 show functional block diagrams of electronic devicesconfigured in accordance with the principles of the various describedembodiments, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description of examples, reference is made to theaccompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and in which it is shownby way of illustration specific examples that can be practiced. It is tobe understood that other examples can be used and structural changes canbe made without departing from the scope of the disclosed examples.

Exemplary Devices

Embodiments of electronic devices, user interfaces for such devices, andassociated processes for using such devices are described. In someembodiments, the device is a portable communications device, such as amobile telephone, that also contains other functions, such as PDA and/ormusic player functions. Exemplary embodiments of portable multifunctiondevices include, without limitation, the iPhone®, iPod Touch®, and iPad®devices from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. Other portable electronicdevices, such as laptops or tablet computers with touch-sensitivesurfaces (e.g., touch screen displays and/or touch pads), are,optionally, used. It should also be understood that, in someembodiments, the device is not a portable communications device, but isa desktop computer or a television with a touch-sensitive surface (e.g.,a touch screen display and/or a touch pad). In some embodiments, thedevice does not have a touch screen display and/or a touch pad, butrather is capable of outputting display information (such as the userinterfaces of the disclosure) for display on a separate display device,and capable of receiving input information from a separate input devicehaving one or more input mechanisms (such as one or more buttons, atouch screen display and/or a touch pad). In some embodiments, thedevice has a display, but is capable of receiving input information froma separate input device having one or more input mechanisms (such as oneor more buttons, a touch screen display and/or a touch pad).

In the discussion that follows, an electronic device that includes adisplay and a touch-sensitive surface is described. It should beunderstood, however, that the electronic device optionally includes oneor more other physical user-interface devices, such as a physicalkeyboard, a mouse and/or a joystick. Further, as described above, itshould be understood that the described electronic device, display andtouch-sensitive surface are optionally distributed amongst two or moredevices. Therefore, as used in this disclosure, information displayed onthe electronic device or by the electronic device is optionally used todescribe information outputted by the electronic device for display on aseparate display device (touch-sensitive or not). Similarly, as used inthis disclosure, input received on the electronic device (e.g., touchinput received on a touch-sensitive surface of the electronic device) isoptionally used to describe input received on a separate input device,from which the electronic device receives input information.

The device typically supports a variety of applications, such as one ormore of the following: a drawing application, a presentationapplication, a word processing application, a website creationapplication, a disk authoring application, a spreadsheet application, agaming application, a telephone application, a video conferencingapplication, an e-mail application, an instant messaging application, aworkout support application, a photo management application, a digitalcamera application, a digital video camera application, a web browsingapplication, a digital music player application, a television channelbrowsing application, and/or a digital video player application.

The various applications that are executed on the device optionally useat least one common physical user-interface device, such as thetouch-sensitive surface. One or more functions of the touch-sensitivesurface as well as corresponding information displayed on the deviceare, optionally, adjusted and/or varied from one application to the nextand/or within a respective application. In this way, a common physicalarchitecture (such as the touch-sensitive surface) of the deviceoptionally supports the variety of applications with user interfacesthat are intuitive and transparent to the user.

Attention is now directed toward embodiments of portable or non-portabledevices with touch-sensitive displays, though the devices need notinclude touch-sensitive displays or displays in general, as describedabove. FIG. 1A is a block diagram illustrating portable or non-portablemultifunction device 100 with touch-sensitive displays 112 in accordancewith some embodiments. Touch-sensitive display 112 is sometimes called a“touch screen” for convenience, and is sometimes known as or called atouch-sensitive display system. Device 100 includes memory 102 (whichoptionally includes one or more computer readable storage mediums),memory controller 122, one or more processing units (CPU's) 120,peripherals interface 118, RF circuitry 108, audio circuitry 110,speaker 111, microphone 113, input/output (I/O) subsystem 106, otherinput or control devices 116, and external port 124. Device 100optionally includes one or more optical sensors 164. Device 100optionally includes one or more intensity sensors 165 for detectingintensity of contacts on device 100 (e.g., a touch-sensitive surfacesuch as touch-sensitive display system 112 of device 100). Device 100optionally includes one or more tactile output generators 167 forgenerating tactile outputs on device 100 (e.g., generating tactileoutputs on a touch-sensitive surface such as touch-sensitive displaysystem 112 of device 100 or touchpad 355 of device 300). Thesecomponents optionally communicate over one or more communication busesor signal lines 103.

As used in the specification and claims, the term “intensity” of acontact on a touch-sensitive surface refers to the force or pressure(force per unit area) of a contact (e.g., a finger contact) on thetouch-sensitive surface, or to a substitute (proxy) for the force orpressure of a contact on the touch-sensitive surface. The intensity of acontact has a range of values that includes at least four distinctvalues and more typically includes hundreds of distinct values (e.g., atleast 256). Intensity of a contact is, optionally, determined (ormeasured) using various approaches and various sensors or combinationsof sensors. For example, one or more force sensors underneath oradjacent to the touch-sensitive surface are, optionally, used to measureforce at various points on the touch-sensitive surface. In someimplementations, force measurements from multiple force sensors arecombined (e.g., a weighted average) to determine an estimated force of acontact. Similarly, a pressure-sensitive tip of a stylus is, optionally,used to determine a pressure of the stylus on the touch-sensitivesurface. Alternatively, the size of the contact area detected on thetouch-sensitive surface and/or changes thereto, the capacitance of thetouch-sensitive surface proximate to the contact and/or changes thereto,and/or the resistance of the touch-sensitive surface proximate to thecontact and/or changes thereto are, optionally, used as a substitute forthe force or pressure of the contact on the touch-sensitive surface. Insome implementations, the substitute measurements for contact force orpressure are used directly to determine whether an intensity thresholdhas been exceeded (e.g., the intensity threshold is described in unitscorresponding to the substitute measurements). In some implementations,the substitute measurements for contact force or pressure are convertedto an estimated force or pressure and the estimated force or pressure isused to determine whether an intensity threshold has been exceeded(e.g., the intensity threshold is a pressure threshold measured in unitsof pressure).

As used in the specification and claims, the term “tactile output”refers to physical displacement of a device relative to a previousposition of the device, physical displacement of a component (e.g., atouch-sensitive surface) of a device relative to another component(e.g., housing) of the device, or displacement of the component relativeto a center of mass of the device that will be detected by a user withthe user's sense of touch. For example, in situations where the deviceor the component of the device is in contact with a surface of a userthat is sensitive to touch (e.g., a finger, palm, or other part of auser's hand), the tactile output generated by the physical displacementwill be interpreted by the user as a tactile sensation corresponding toa perceived change in physical characteristics of the device or thecomponent of the device. For example, movement of a touch-sensitivesurface (e.g., a touch-sensitive display or trackpad) is, optionally,interpreted by the user as a “down click” or “up click” of a physicalactuator button. In some cases, a user will feel a tactile sensationsuch as an “down click” or “up click” even when there is no movement ofa physical actuator button associated with the touch-sensitive surfacethat is physically pressed (e.g., displaced) by the user's movements. Asanother example, movement of the touch-sensitive surface is, optionally,interpreted or sensed by the user as “roughness” of the touch-sensitivesurface, even when there is no change in smoothness of thetouch-sensitive surface. While such interpretations of touch by a userwill be subject to the individualized sensory perceptions of the user,there are many sensory perceptions of touch that are common to a largemajority of users. Thus, when a tactile output is described ascorresponding to a particular sensory perception of a user (e.g., an “upclick,” a “down click,” “roughness”), unless otherwise stated, thegenerated tactile output corresponds to physical displacement of thedevice or a component thereof that will generate the described sensoryperception for a typical (or average) user.

It should be appreciated that device 100 is only one example of aportable or non-portable multifunction device, and that device 100optionally has more or fewer components than shown, optionally combinestwo or more components, or optionally has a different configuration orarrangement of the components. The various components shown in FIG. 1Aare implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of both hardwareand software, including one or more signal processing and/or applicationspecific integrated circuits. Further, the various components shown inFIG. 1A are optionally implemented across two or more devices; forexample, a display and audio circuitry on a display device, atouch-sensitive surface on an input device, and remaining components ondevice 100. In such an embodiment, device 100 optionally communicateswith the display device and/or the input device to facilitate operationof the system, as described in the disclosure, and the variouscomponents described herein that relate to display and/or input remainin device 100, or are optionally included in the display and/or inputdevice, as appropriate.

Memory 102 optionally includes high-speed random access memory andoptionally also includes non-volatile memory, such as one or moremagnetic disk storage devices, flash memory devices, or othernon-volatile solid-state memory devices. Access to memory 102 by othercomponents of device 100, such as CPU 120 and the peripherals interface118, is, optionally, controlled by memory controller 122.

Peripherals interface 118 can be used to couple input and outputperipherals of the device to CPU 120 and memory 102. The one or moreprocessors 120 run or execute various software programs and/or sets ofinstructions stored in memory 102 to perform various functions fordevice 100 and to process data.

In some embodiments, peripherals interface 118, CPU 120, and memorycontroller 122 are, optionally, implemented on a single chip, such aschip 104. In some other embodiments, they are, optionally, implementedon separate chips.

RF (radio frequency) circuitry 108 receives and sends RF signals, alsocalled electromagnetic signals. RF circuitry 108 converts electricalsignals to/from electromagnetic signals and communicates withcommunications networks and other communications devices via theelectromagnetic signals. RF circuitry 108 optionally includes well-knowncircuitry for performing these functions, including but not limited toan antenna system, an RF transceiver, one or more amplifiers, a tuner,one or more oscillators, a digital signal processor, a CODEC chipset, asubscriber identity module (SIM) card, memory, and so forth. RFcircuitry 108 optionally communicates with networks, such as theInternet, also referred to as the World Wide Web (WWW), an intranetand/or a wireless network, such as a cellular telephone network, awireless local area network (LAN) and/or a metropolitan area network(MAN), and other devices by wireless communication. The wirelesscommunication optionally uses any of a plurality of communicationsstandards, protocols and technologies, including but not limited toGlobal System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Enhanced Data GSMEnvironment (EDGE), high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA),high-speed uplink packet access (HSUPA), Evolution, Data-Only (EV-DO),HSPA, HSPA+, Dual-Cell HSPA (DC-HSPDA), long term evolution (LTE), nearfield communication (NFC), wideband code division multiple access(W-CDMA), code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multipleaccess (TDMA), Bluetooth, Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) (e.g., IEEE 802.11a,IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g and/or IEEE 802.11n), voice over InternetProtocol (VoIP), Wi-MAX, a protocol for e-mail (e.g., Internet messageaccess protocol (IMAP) and/or post office protocol (POP)), instantmessaging (e.g., extensible messaging and presence protocol (XMPP),Session Initiation Protocol for Instant Messaging and PresenceLeveraging Extensions (SIMPLE), Instant Messaging and Presence Service(IMPS)), and/or Short Message Service (SMS), or any other suitablecommunication protocol, including communication protocols not yetdeveloped as of the filing date of this document.

Audio circuitry 110, speaker 111, and microphone 113 provide an audiointerface between a user and device 100. Audio circuitry 110 receivesaudio data from peripherals interface 118, converts the audio data to anelectrical signal, and transmits the electrical signal to speaker 111.Speaker 111 converts the electrical signal to human-audible sound waves.Audio circuitry 110 also receives electrical signals converted bymicrophone 113 from sound waves. Audio circuitry 110 converts theelectrical signal to audio data and transmits the audio data toperipherals interface 118 for processing. Audio data is, optionally,retrieved from and/or transmitted to memory 102 and/or RF circuitry 108by peripherals interface 118. In some embodiments, audio circuitry 110also includes a headset jack (e.g., 212, FIG. 2). The headset jackprovides an interface between audio circuitry 110 and removable audioinput/output peripherals, such as output-only headphones or a headsetwith both output (e.g., a headphone for one or both ears) and input(e.g., a microphone).

I/O subsystem 106 couples input/output peripherals on device 100, suchas touch screen 112 and other input control devices 116, to peripheralsinterface 118. I/O subsystem 106 optionally includes display controller156, optical sensor controller 158, intensity sensor controller 159,haptic feedback controller 161 and one or more input controllers 160 forother input or control devices. The one or more input controllers 160receive/send electrical signals from/to other input or control devices116. The other input control devices 116 optionally include physicalbuttons (e.g., push buttons, rocker buttons, etc.), dials, sliderswitches, joysticks, click wheels, and so forth. In some alternateembodiments, input controller(s) 160 are, optionally, coupled to any (ornone) of the following: a keyboard, infrared port, USB port, and apointer device such as a mouse. The one or more buttons (e.g., 208, FIG.2) optionally include an up/down button for volume control of speaker111 and/or microphone 113. The one or more buttons optionally include apush button (e.g., 206, FIG. 2).

Touch-sensitive display 112 provides an input interface and an outputinterface between the device and a user. As described above, thetouch-sensitive operation and the display operation of touch-sensitivedisplay 112 are optionally separated from each other, such that adisplay device is used for display purposes and a touch-sensitivesurface (whether display or not) is used for input detection purposes,and the described components and functions are modified accordingly.However, for simplicity, the following description is provided withreference to a touch-sensitive display. Display controller 156 receivesand/or sends electrical signals from/to touch screen 112. Touch screen112 displays visual output to the user. The visual output optionallyincludes graphics, text, icons, video, and any combination thereof(collectively termed “graphics”). In some embodiments, some or all ofthe visual output corresponds to user-interface objects.

Touch screen 112 has a touch-sensitive surface, sensor or set of sensorsthat accepts input from the user based on haptic and/or tactile contact.Touch screen 112 and display controller 156 (along with any associatedmodules and/or sets of instructions in memory 102) detect contact (andany movement or breaking of the contact) on touch screen 112 andconverts the detected contact into interaction with user-interfaceobjects (e.g., one or more soft keys, icons, web pages or images) thatare displayed on touch screen 112. In an exemplary embodiment, a pointof contact between touch screen 112 and the user corresponds to a fingerof the user.

Touch screen 112 optionally uses LCD (liquid crystal display)technology, LPD (light emitting polymer display) technology, or LED(light emitting diode) technology, although other display technologiesare used in other embodiments. Touch screen 112 and display controller156 optionally detect contact and any movement or breaking thereof usingany of a plurality of touch sensing technologies now known or laterdeveloped, including but not limited to capacitive, resistive, infrared,and surface acoustic wave technologies, as well as other proximitysensor arrays or other elements for determining one or more points ofcontact with touch screen 112. In an exemplary embodiment, projectedmutual capacitance sensing technology is used, such as that found in theiPhone®, iPod Touch®, and iPad® from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.

Touch screen 112 optionally has a video resolution in excess of 100 dpi.In some embodiments, the touch screen has a video resolution ofapproximately 160 dpi. The user optionally makes contact with touchscreen 112 using any suitable object or appendage, such as a stylus, afinger, and so forth. In some embodiments, the user interface isdesigned to work primarily with finger-based contacts and gestures,which can be less precise than stylus-based input due to the larger areaof contact of a finger on the touch screen. In some embodiments, thedevice translates the rough finger-based input into a precisepointer/cursor position or command for performing the actions desired bythe user.

In some embodiments, in addition to the touch screen, device 100optionally includes a touchpad (not shown) for activating ordeactivating particular functions. In some embodiments, the touchpad isa touch-sensitive area of the device that, unlike the touch screen, doesnot display visual output. The touchpad is, optionally, atouch-sensitive surface that is separate from touch screen 112 or anextension of the touch-sensitive surface formed by the touch screen.

Device 100 also includes power system 162 for powering the variouscomponents. Power system 162 optionally includes a power managementsystem, one or more power sources (e.g., battery, alternating current(AC)), a recharging system, a power failure detection circuit, a powerconverter or inverter, a power status indicator (e.g., a light-emittingdiode (LED)) and any other components associated with the generation,management and distribution of power in portable or non-portabledevices.

Device 100 optionally also includes one or more optical sensors 164.FIG. 1A shows an optical sensor coupled to optical sensor controller 158in I/O subsystem 106. Optical sensor 164 optionally includescharge-coupled device (CCD) or complementary metal-oxide semiconductor(CMOS) phototransistors. Optical sensor 164 receives light from theenvironment, projected through one or more lens, and converts the lightto data representing an image. In conjunction with imaging module 143(also called a camera module), optical sensor 164 optionally capturesstill images or video. In some embodiments, an optical sensor is locatedon the back of device 100, opposite touch screen display 112 on thefront of the device, so that the touch screen display is enabled for useas a viewfinder for still and/or video image acquisition. In someembodiments, another optical sensor is located on the front of thedevice so that the user's image is, optionally, obtained forvideoconferencing while the user views the other video conferenceparticipants on the touch screen display.

Device 100 optionally also includes one or more contact intensitysensors 165. FIG. 1A shows a contact intensity sensor coupled tointensity sensor controller 159 in I/O subsystem 106. Contact intensitysensor 165 optionally includes one or more piezoresistive strain gauges,capacitive force sensors, electric force sensors, piezoelectric forcesensors, optical force sensors, capacitive touch-sensitive surfaces, orother intensity sensors (e.g., sensors used to measure the force (orpressure) of a contact on a touch-sensitive surface). Contact intensitysensor 165 receives contact intensity information (e.g., pressureinformation or a proxy for pressure information) from the environment.In some embodiments, at least one contact intensity sensor is collocatedwith, or proximate to, a touch-sensitive surface (e.g., touch-sensitivedisplay system 112). In some embodiments, at least one contact intensitysensor is located on the back of device 100, opposite touch screendisplay 112 which is located on the front of device 100.

Device 100 optionally also includes one or more proximity sensors 166.FIG. 1A shows proximity sensor 166 coupled to peripherals interface 118.Alternately, proximity sensor 166 is coupled to input controller 160 inI/O subsystem 106. In some embodiments, the proximity sensor turns offand disables touch screen 112 when the multifunction device is placednear the user's ear (e.g., when the user is making a phone call).

Device 100 optionally also includes one or more tactile outputgenerators 167. FIG. 1A shows a tactile output generator coupled tohaptic feedback controller 161 in I/O subsystem 106. Tactile outputgenerator 167 optionally includes one or more electroacoustic devicessuch as speakers or other audio components and/or electromechanicaldevices that convert energy into linear motion such as a motor,solenoid, electroactive polymer, piezoelectric actuator, electrostaticactuator, or other tactile output generating component (e.g., acomponent that converts electrical signals into tactile outputs on thedevice). Contact intensity sensor 165 receives tactile feedbackgeneration instructions from haptic feedback module 133 and generatestactile outputs on device 100 that are capable of being sensed by a userof device 100. In some embodiments, at least one tactile outputgenerator is collocated with, or proximate to, a touch-sensitive surface(e.g., touch-sensitive display system 112) and, optionally, generates atactile output by moving the touch-sensitive surface vertically (e.g.,in/out of a surface of device 100) or laterally (e.g., back and forth inthe same plane as a surface of device 100). In some embodiments, atleast one tactile output generator sensor is located on the back ofdevice 100, opposite touch screen display 112 which is located on thefront of device 100.

Device 100 optionally also includes one or more accelerometers 168. FIG.1A shows accelerometer 168 coupled to peripherals interface 118.Alternately, accelerometer 168 is, optionally, coupled to an inputcontroller 160 in I/O subsystem 106. In some embodiments, information isdisplayed on the touch screen display in a portrait view or a landscapeview based on an analysis of data received from the one or moreaccelerometers. Device 100 optionally includes, in addition toaccelerometer(s) 168, a magnetometer (not shown) and a GPS (or GLONASSor other global navigation system) receiver (not shown) for obtaininginformation concerning the location and orientation (e.g., portrait orlandscape) of device 100.

In some embodiments, the software components stored in memory 102include operating system 126, communication module (or set ofinstructions) 128, contact/motion module (or set of instructions) 130,graphics module (or set of instructions) 132, text input module (or setof instructions) 134, Global Positioning System (GPS) module (or set ofinstructions) 135, and applications (or sets of instructions) 136.Furthermore, in some embodiments memory 102 stores device/globalinternal state 157, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 3. Device/global internalstate 157 includes one or more of: active application state, indicatingwhich applications, if any, are currently active; display state,indicating what applications, views or other information occupy variousregions of touch screen display 112; sensor state, including informationobtained from the device's various sensors and input control devices116; and location information concerning the device's location and/orattitude.

Operating system 126 (e.g., Darwin, RTXC, LINUX, UNIX, OS X, WINDOWS, oran embedded operating system such as VxWorks) includes various softwarecomponents and/or drivers for controlling and managing general systemtasks (e.g., memory management, storage device control, powermanagement, etc.) and facilitates communication between various hardwareand software components.

Communication module 128 facilitates communication with other devicesover one or more external ports 124 and also includes various softwarecomponents for handling data received by RF circuitry 108 and/orexternal port 124. External port 124 (e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB),FIREWIRE, etc.) is adapted for coupling directly to other devices orindirectly over a network (e.g., the Internet, wireless LAN, etc.). Insome embodiments, the external port is a multi-pin (e.g., 30-pin)connector that is the same as, or similar to and/or compatible with the30-pin connector used on iPod (trademark of Apple Inc.) devices.

Contact/motion module 130 optionally detects contact with touch screen112 (in conjunction with display controller 156) and othertouch-sensitive devices (e.g., a touchpad or physical click wheel).Contact/motion module 130 includes various software components forperforming various operations related to detection of contact, such asdetermining if contact has occurred (e.g., detecting a finger-downevent), determining an intensity of the contact (e.g., the force orpressure of the contact or a substitute for the force or pressure of thecontact) determining if there is movement of the contact and trackingthe movement across the touch-sensitive surface (e.g., detecting one ormore finger-dragging events), and determining if the contact has ceased(e.g., detecting a finger-up event or a break in contact).Contact/motion module 130 receives contact data from the touch-sensitivesurface. Determining movement of the point of contact, which isrepresented by a series of contact data, optionally includes determiningspeed (magnitude), velocity (magnitude and direction), and/or anacceleration (a change in magnitude and/or direction) of the point ofcontact. These operations are, optionally, applied to single contacts(e.g., one finger contacts) or to multiple simultaneous contacts (e.g.,“multitouch”/multiple finger contacts). In some embodiments,contact/motion module 130 and display controller 156 detect contact on atouchpad.

In some embodiments, contact/motion module 130 uses a set of one or moreintensity thresholds to determine whether an operation has beenperformed by a user (e.g., to determine whether a user has “clicked” onan icon). In some embodiments at least a subset of the intensitythresholds are determined in accordance with software parameters (e.g.,the intensity thresholds are not determined by the activation thresholdsof particular physical actuators and can be adjusted without changingthe physical hardware of device 100). For example, a mouse “click”threshold of a trackpad or touch screen display can be set to any of alarge range of predefined thresholds values without changing thetrackpad or touch screen display hardware. Additionally, in someimplementations a user of the device is provided with software settingsfor adjusting one or more of the set of intensity thresholds (e.g., byadjusting individual intensity thresholds and/or by adjusting aplurality of intensity thresholds at once with a system-level click“intensity” parameter).

Contact/motion module 130 optionally detects a gesture input by a user.Different gestures on the touch-sensitive surface have different contactpatterns and intensities. Thus, a gesture is, optionally, detected bydetecting a particular contact pattern. For example, detecting a fingertap gesture includes detecting a finger-down event followed by detectinga finger-up (lift off) event at the same position (or substantially thesame position) as the finger-down event (e.g., at the position of anicon). As another example, detecting a finger swipe gesture on thetouch-sensitive surface includes detecting a finger-down event followedby detecting one or more finger-dragging events, and subsequentlyfollowed by detecting a finger-up (lift off) event.

Graphics module 132 includes various known software components forrendering and displaying graphics on touch screen 112 or other display,including components for changing the visual impact (e.g., brightness,transparency, saturation, contrast or other visual property) of graphicsthat are displayed. As used herein, the term “graphics” includes anyobject that can be displayed to a user, including without limitationtext, web pages, icons (such as user-interface objects including softkeys), digital images, videos, animations and the like.

In some embodiments, graphics module 132 stores data representinggraphics to be used. Each graphic is, optionally, assigned acorresponding code. Graphics module 132 receives, from applicationsetc., one or more codes specifying graphics to be displayed along with,if necessary, coordinate data and other graphic property data, and thengenerates screen image data to output to display controller 156.

Haptic feedback module 133 includes various software components forgenerating instructions used by tactile output generator(s) 167 toproduce tactile outputs at one or more locations on device 100 inresponse to user interactions with device 100.

Text input module 134, which is, optionally, a component of graphicsmodule 132, provides soft keyboards for entering text in variousapplications (e.g., contacts 137, e-mail 140, IM 141, browser 147, andany other application that needs text input).

GPS module 135 determines the location of the device and provides thisinformation for use in various applications (e.g., to telephone 138 foruse in location-based dialing, to camera 143 as picture/video metadata,and to applications that provide location-based services such as weatherwidgets, local yellow page widgets, and map/navigation widgets).

Applications 136 optionally include the following modules (or sets ofinstructions), or a subset or superset thereof:

-   -   contacts module 137 (sometimes called an address book or contact        list);    -   telephone module 138;    -   video conferencing module 139;    -   e-mail client module 140;    -   instant messaging (IM) module 141;    -   workout support module 142;    -   camera module 143 for still and/or video images;    -   image management module 144;    -   browser module 147;    -   calendar module 148;    -   widget modules 149, which optionally include one or more of:        weather widget 149-1, stocks widget 149-2, calculator widget        149-3, alarm clock widget 149-4, dictionary widget 149-5, and        other widgets obtained by the user, as well as user-created        widgets 149-6;    -   widget creator module 150 for making user-created widgets 149-6;    -   search module 151;    -   video and music player module 152, which is, optionally, made up        of a video player module and a music player module;    -   notes module 153;    -   map module 154;    -   online video module 155.

Examples of other applications 136 that are, optionally, stored inmemory 102 include other word processing applications, other imageediting applications, drawing applications, presentation applications,JAVA-enabled applications, encryption, digital rights management, voicerecognition, and voice replication.

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156, contactmodule 130, graphics module 132, and text input module 134, contactsmodule 137 are, optionally, used to manage an address book or contactlist (e.g., stored in application internal state 192 of contacts module137 in memory 102 or memory 370), including: adding name(s) to theaddress book; deleting name(s) from the address book; associatingtelephone number(s), e-mail address(es), physical address(es) or otherinformation with a name; associating an image with a name; categorizingand sorting names; providing telephone numbers or e-mail addresses toinitiate and/or facilitate communications by telephone 138, videoconference 139, e-mail 140, or IM 141; and so forth.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, audio circuitry 110, speaker 111,microphone 113, touch screen 112, display controller 156, contact module130, graphics module 132, and text input module 134, telephone module138 are, optionally, used to enter a sequence of characterscorresponding to a telephone number, access one or more telephonenumbers in address book 137, modify a telephone number that has beenentered, dial a respective telephone number, conduct a conversation anddisconnect or hang up when the conversation is completed. As notedabove, the wireless communication optionally uses any of a plurality ofcommunications standards, protocols and technologies.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, audio circuitry 110, speaker 111,microphone 113, touch screen 112, display controller 156, optical sensor164, optical sensor controller 158, contact module 130, graphics module132, text input module 134, contact list 137, and telephone module 138,videoconferencing module 139 includes executable instructions toinitiate, conduct, and terminate a video conference between a user andone or more other participants in accordance with user instructions.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, displaycontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, and text inputmodule 134, e-mail client module 140 includes executable instructions tocreate, send, receive, and manage e-mail in response to userinstructions. In conjunction with image management module 144, e-mailclient module 140 makes it very easy to create and send e-mails withstill or video images taken with camera module 143.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, displaycontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, and text inputmodule 134, the instant messaging module 141 includes executableinstructions to enter a sequence of characters corresponding to aninstant message, to modify previously entered characters, to transmit arespective instant message (for example, using a Short Message Service(SMS) or Multimedia Message Service (MMS) protocol for telephony-basedinstant messages or using XMPP, SIMPLE, or IMPS for Internet-basedinstant messages), to receive instant messages and to view receivedinstant messages. In some embodiments, transmitted and/or receivedinstant messages optionally include graphics, photos, audio files, videofiles and/or other attachments as are supported in a MMS and/or anEnhanced Messaging Service (EMS). As used herein, “instant messaging”refers to both telephony-based messages (e.g., messages sent using SMSor MMS) and Internet-based messages (e.g., messages sent using XMPP,SIMPLE, or IMPS).

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, displaycontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, text inputmodule 134, GPS module 135, map module 154, and music player module 146,workout support module 142 includes executable instructions to createworkouts (e.g., with time, distance, and/or calorie burning goals);communicate with workout sensors (sports devices); receive workoutsensor data; calibrate sensors used to monitor a workout; select andplay music for a workout; and display, store and transmit workout data.

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156, opticalsensor(s) 164, optical sensor controller 158, contact module 130,graphics module 132, and image management module 144, camera module 143includes executable instructions to capture still images or video(including a video stream) and store them into memory 102, modifycharacteristics of a still image or video, or delete a still image orvideo from memory 102.

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156, contactmodule 130, graphics module 132, text input module 134, and cameramodule 143, image management module 144 includes executable instructionsto arrange, modify (e.g., edit), or otherwise manipulate, label, delete,present (e.g., in a digital slide show or album), and store still and/orvideo images.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display systemcontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, and text inputmodule 134, browser module 147 includes executable instructions tobrowse the Internet in accordance with user instructions, includingsearching, linking to, receiving, and displaying web pages or portionsthereof, as well as attachments and other files linked to web pages.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display systemcontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, text inputmodule 134, e-mail client module 140, and browser module 147, calendarmodule 148 includes executable instructions to create, display, modify,and store calendars and data associated with calendars (e.g., calendarentries, to do lists, etc.) in accordance with user instructions.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display systemcontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, text inputmodule 134, and browser module 147, widget modules 149 aremini-applications that are, optionally, downloaded and used by a user(e.g., weather widget 149-1, stocks widget 149-2, calculator widget149-3, alarm clock widget 149-4, and dictionary widget 149-5) or createdby the user (e.g., user-created widget 149-6). In some embodiments, awidget includes an HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) file, a CSS(Cascading Style Sheets) file, and a JavaScript file. In someembodiments, a widget includes an XML (Extensible Markup Language) fileand a JavaScript file (e.g., Yahoo! Widgets).

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display systemcontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, text inputmodule 134, and browser module 147, the widget creator module 150 are,optionally, used by a user to create widgets (e.g., turning auser-specified portion of a web page into a widget).

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display system controller 156,contact module 130, graphics module 132, and text input module 134,search module 151 includes executable instructions to search for text,music, sound, image, video, and/or other files in memory 102 that matchone or more search criteria (e.g., one or more user-specified searchterms) in accordance with user instructions.

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display system controller 156,contact module 130, graphics module 132, audio circuitry 110, speaker111, RF circuitry 108, and browser module 147, video and music playermodule 152 includes executable instructions that allow the user todownload and play back recorded music and other sound files stored inone or more file formats, such as MP3 or AAC files, and executableinstructions to display, present or otherwise play back videos (e.g., ontouch screen 112 or on an external, connected display via external port124). In some embodiments, device 100 optionally includes thefunctionality of an MP3 player, such as an iPod (trademark of AppleInc.).

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display controller 156, contactmodule 130, graphics module 132, and text input module 134, notes module153 includes executable instructions to create and manage notes, to dolists, and the like in accordance with user instructions.

In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display systemcontroller 156, contact module 130, graphics module 132, text inputmodule 134, GPS module 135, and browser module 147, map module 154 are,optionally, used to receive, display, modify, and store maps and dataassociated with maps (e.g., driving directions; data on stores and otherpoints of interest at or near a particular location; and otherlocation-based data) in accordance with user instructions.

In conjunction with touch screen 112, display system controller 156,contact module 130, graphics module 132, audio circuitry 110, speaker111, RF circuitry 108, text input module 134, e-mail client module 140,and browser module 147, online video module 155 includes instructionsthat allow the user to access, browse, receive (e.g., by streamingand/or download), play back (e.g., on the touch screen or on anexternal, connected display via external port 124), send an e-mail witha link to a particular online video, and otherwise manage online videosin one or more file formats, such as H.264. In some embodiments, instantmessaging module 141, rather than e-mail client module 140, is used tosend a link to a particular online video.

Each of the above identified modules and applications correspond to aset of executable instructions for performing one or more functionsdescribed above and the methods described in this application (e.g., thecomputer-implemented methods and other information processing methodsdescribed herein). These modules (i.e., sets of instructions) need notbe implemented as separate software programs, procedures or modules, andthus various subsets of these modules are, optionally, combined orotherwise re-arranged in various embodiments. In some embodiments,memory 102 optionally stores a subset of the modules and data structuresidentified above. Furthermore, memory 102 optionally stores additionalmodules and data structures not described above.

In some embodiments, device 100 is a device where operation of apredefined set of functions on the device is performed exclusivelythrough a touch screen and/or a touchpad (whether included in device 100or on a separate device, such as an input device). By using a touchscreen and/or a touchpad as the primary input control device foroperation of device 100, the number of physical input control devices(such as push buttons, dials, and the like) on device 100 is,optionally, reduced.

The predefined set of functions that are performed exclusively through atouch screen and/or a touchpad optionally include navigation betweenuser interfaces. In some embodiments, the touchpad, when touched by theuser, navigates device 100 to a main, home, or root menu from any userinterface that is displayed on device 100. In such embodiments, a “menubutton” is implemented using a touchpad. In some other embodiments, themenu button is a physical push button or other physical input controldevice instead of a touchpad.

FIG. 1B is a block diagram illustrating exemplary components for eventhandling in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments,memory 102 (in FIG. 1A) or 370 (FIG. 3) includes event sorter 170 (e.g.,in operating system 126) and a respective application 136-1 (e.g., anyof the aforementioned applications 137-151, 155, 380-390).

Event sorter 170 receives event information and determines theapplication 136-1 and application view 191 of application 136-1 to whichto deliver the event information. Event sorter 170 includes eventmonitor 171 and event dispatcher module 174. In some embodiments,application 136-1 includes application internal state 192, whichindicates the current application view(s) displayed on touch-sensitivedisplay 112 when the application is active or executing. In someembodiments, device/global internal state 157 is used by event sorter170 to determine which application(s) is (are) currently active, andapplication internal state 192 is used by event sorter 170 to determineapplication views 191 to which to deliver event information.

In some embodiments, application internal state 192 includes additionalinformation, such as one or more of: resume information to be used whenapplication 136-1 resumes execution, user interface state informationthat indicates information being displayed or that is ready for displayby application 136-1, a state queue for enabling the user to go back toa prior state or view of application 136-1, and a redo/undo queue ofprevious actions taken by the user.

Event monitor 171 receives event information from peripherals interface118. Event information includes information about a sub-event (e.g., auser touch on touch-sensitive display 112, as part of a multi-touchgesture). Peripherals interface 118 transmits information it receivesfrom I/O subsystem 106 or a sensor, such as proximity sensor 166,accelerometer(s) 168, and/or microphone 113 (through audio circuitry110). Information that peripherals interface 118 receives from I/Osubsystem 106 includes information from touch-sensitive display 112 or atouch-sensitive surface.

In some embodiments, event monitor 171 sends requests to the peripheralsinterface 118 at predetermined intervals. In response, peripheralsinterface 118 transmits event information. In other embodiments,peripheral interface 118 transmits event information only when there isa significant event (e.g., receiving an input above a predeterminednoise threshold and/or for more than a predetermined duration).

In some embodiments, event sorter 170 also includes a hit viewdetermination module 172 and/or an active event recognizer determinationmodule 173.

Hit view determination module 172 provides software procedures fordetermining where a sub-event has taken place within one or more views,when touch-sensitive display 112 displays more than one view. Views aremade up of controls and other elements that a user can see on thedisplay.

Another aspect of the user interface associated with an application is aset of views, sometimes herein called application views or userinterface windows, in which information is displayed and touch-basedgestures occur. The application views (of a respective application) inwhich a touch is detected optionally correspond to programmatic levelswithin a programmatic or view hierarchy of the application. For example,the lowest level view in which a touch is detected is, optionally,called the hit view, and the set of events that are recognized as properinputs are, optionally, determined based, at least in part, on the hitview of the initial touch that begins a touch-based gesture.

Hit view determination module 172 receives information related tosub-events of a touch-based gesture. When an application has multipleviews organized in a hierarchy, hit view determination module 172identifies a hit view as the lowest view in the hierarchy which shouldhandle the sub-event. In most circumstances, the hit view is the lowestlevel view in which an initiating sub-event occurs (i.e., the firstsub-event in the sequence of sub-events that form an event or potentialevent). Once the hit view is identified by the hit view determinationmodule, the hit view typically receives all sub-events related to thesame touch or input source for which it was identified as the hit view.

Active event recognizer determination module 173 determines which viewor views within a view hierarchy should receive a particular sequence ofsub-events. In some embodiments, active event recognizer determinationmodule 173 determines that only the hit view should receive a particularsequence of sub-events. In other embodiments, active event recognizerdetermination module 173 determines that all views that include thephysical location of a sub-event are actively involved views, andtherefore determines that all actively involved views should receive aparticular sequence of sub-events. In other embodiments, even if touchsub-events were entirely confined to the area associated with oneparticular view, views higher in the hierarchy would still remain asactively involved views.

Event dispatcher module 174 dispatches the event information to an eventrecognizer (e.g., event recognizer 180). In embodiments including activeevent recognizer determination module 173, event dispatcher module 174delivers the event information to an event recognizer determined byactive event recognizer determination module 173. In some embodiments,event dispatcher module 174 stores in an event queue the eventinformation, which is retrieved by a respective event receiver module182.

In some embodiments, operating system 126 includes event sorter 170.Alternatively, application 136-1 includes event sorter 170. In yet otherembodiments, event sorter 170 is a stand-alone module, or a part ofanother module stored in memory 102, such as contact/motion module 130.

In some embodiments, application 136-1 includes a plurality of eventhandlers 190 and one or more application views 191, each of whichincludes instructions for handling touch events that occur within arespective view of the application's user interface. Each applicationview 191 of the application 136-1 includes one or more event recognizers180. Typically, a respective application view 191 includes a pluralityof event recognizers 180. In other embodiments, one or more of eventrecognizers 180 are part of a separate module, such as a user interfacekit (not shown) or a higher level object from which application 136-1inherits methods and other properties. In some embodiments, a respectiveevent handler 190 includes one or more of: data updater 176, objectupdater 177, GUI updater 178, and/or event data 179 received from eventsorter 170. Event handler 190 optionally utilizes or calls data updater176, object updater 177 or GUI updater 178 to update the applicationinternal state 192. Alternatively, one or more of the application views191 includes one or more respective event handlers 190. Also, in someembodiments, one or more of data updater 176, object updater 177, andGUI updater 178 are included in a respective application view 191.

A respective event recognizer 180 receives event information (e.g.,event data 179) from event sorter 170, and identifies an event from theevent information. Event recognizer 180 includes event receiver 182 andevent comparator 184. In some embodiments, event recognizer 180 alsoincludes at least a subset of: metadata 183, and event deliveryinstructions 188 (which optionally include sub-event deliveryinstructions).

Event receiver 182 receives event information from event sorter 170. Theevent information includes information about a sub-event, for example, atouch or a touch movement. Depending on the sub-event, the eventinformation also includes additional information, such as location ofthe sub-event. When the sub-event concerns motion of a touch, the eventinformation optionally also includes speed and direction of thesub-event. In some embodiments, events include rotation of the devicefrom one orientation to another (e.g., from a portrait orientation to alandscape orientation, or vice versa), and the event informationincludes corresponding information about the current orientation (alsocalled device attitude) of the device.

Event comparator 184 compares the event information to predefined eventor sub-event definitions and, based on the comparison, determines anevent or sub-event, or determines or updates the state of an event orsub-event. In some embodiments, event comparator 184 includes eventdefinitions 186. Event definitions 186 contain definitions of events(e.g., predefined sequences of sub-events), for example, event 1(187-1), event 2 (187-2), and others. In some embodiments, sub-events inan event 187 include, for example, touch begin, touch end, touchmovement, touch cancellation, and multiple touching. In one example, thedefinition for event 1 (187-1) is a double tap on a displayed object.The double tap, for example, comprises a first touch (touch begin) onthe displayed object for a predetermined phase, a first lift-off (touchend) for a predetermined phase, a second touch (touch begin) on thedisplayed object for a predetermined phase, and a second lift-off (touchend) for a predetermined phase. In another example, the definition forevent 2 (187-2) is a dragging on a displayed object. The dragging, forexample, comprises a touch (or contact) on the displayed object for apredetermined phase, a movement of the touch across touch-sensitivedisplay 112, and lift-off of the touch (touch end). In some embodiments,the event also includes information for one or more associated eventhandlers 190.

In some embodiments, event definition 187 includes a definition of anevent for a respective user-interface object. In some embodiments, eventcomparator 184 performs a hit test to determine which user-interfaceobject is associated with a sub-event. For example, in an applicationview in which three user-interface objects are displayed ontouch-sensitive display 112, when a touch is detected on touch-sensitivedisplay 112, event comparator 184 performs a hit test to determine whichof the three user-interface objects is associated with the touch(sub-event). If each displayed object is associated with a respectiveevent handler 190, the event comparator uses the result of the hit testto determine which event handler 190 should be activated. For example,event comparator 184 selects an event handler associated with thesub-event and the object triggering the hit test.

In some embodiments, the definition for a respective event 187 alsoincludes delayed actions that delay delivery of the event informationuntil after it has been determined whether the sequence of sub-eventsdoes or does not correspond to the event recognizer's event type.

When a respective event recognizer 180 determines that the series ofsub-events do not match any of the events in event definitions 186, therespective event recognizer 180 enters an event impossible, eventfailed, or event ended state, after which it disregards subsequentsub-events of the touch-based gesture. In this situation, other eventrecognizers, if any, that remain active for the hit view continue totrack and process sub-events of an ongoing touch-based gesture.

In some embodiments, a respective event recognizer 180 includes metadata183 with configurable properties, flags, and/or lists that indicate howthe event delivery system should perform sub-event delivery to activelyinvolved event recognizers. In some embodiments, metadata 183 includesconfigurable properties, flags, and/or lists that indicate how eventrecognizers interact, or are enabled to interact, with one another. Insome embodiments, metadata 183 includes configurable properties, flags,and/or lists that indicate whether sub-events are delivered to varyinglevels in the view or programmatic hierarchy.

In some embodiments, a respective event recognizer 180 activates eventhandler 190 associated with an event when one or more particularsub-events of an event are recognized. In some embodiments, a respectiveevent recognizer 180 delivers event information associated with theevent to event handler 190. Activating an event handler 190 is distinctfrom sending (and deferred sending) sub-events to a respective hit view.In some embodiments, event recognizer 180 throws a flag associated withthe recognized event, and event handler 190 associated with the flagcatches the flag and performs a predefined process.

In some embodiments, event delivery instructions 188 include sub-eventdelivery instructions that deliver event information about a sub-eventwithout activating an event handler. Instead, the sub-event deliveryinstructions deliver event information to event handlers associated withthe series of sub-events or to actively involved views. Event handlersassociated with the series of sub-events or with actively involved viewsreceive the event information and perform a predetermined process.

In some embodiments, data updater 176 creates and updates data used inapplication 136-1. For example, data updater 176 updates the telephonenumber used in contacts module 137, or stores a video file used in videoplayer module 145. In some embodiments, object updater 177 creates andupdates objects used in application 136-1. For example, object updater177 creates a new user-interface object or updates the position of auser-interface object. GUI updater 178 updates the GUI. For example, GUIupdater 178 prepares display information and sends it to graphics module132 for display on a touch-sensitive display.

In some embodiments, event handler(s) 190 includes or has access to dataupdater 176, object updater 177, and GUI updater 178. In someembodiments, data updater 176, object updater 177, and GUI updater 178are included in a single module of a respective application 136-1 orapplication view 191. In other embodiments, they are included in two ormore software modules.

It shall be understood that the foregoing discussion regarding eventhandling of user touches on touch-sensitive displays and/or touchpadsalso applies to other forms of user inputs to operate multifunctiondevices 100 with input-devices, not all of which are initiated on touchscreens. For example, mouse movement and mouse button presses,optionally coordinated with single or multiple keyboard presses orholds; contact movements such as taps, drags, scrolls, etc., ontouch-pads; pen stylus inputs; movement of the device; oralinstructions; detected eye movements; biometric inputs; and/or anycombination thereof are optionally utilized as inputs corresponding tosub-events which define an event to be recognized.

FIG. 2 illustrates a portable or non-portable multifunction device 100having a touch screen 112 in accordance with some embodiments. As statedabove, multifunction device 100 is described as having the variousillustrated structures (such as touch screen 112, speaker 111,accelerometer 168, microphone 113, etc.); however, it is understood thatthese structures optionally reside on separate devices. For example,display-related structures (e.g., display, speaker, etc.) and/orfunctions optionally reside on a separate display device, input-relatedstructures (e.g., touch-sensitive surface, microphone, accelerometer,etc.) and/or functions optionally reside on a separate input device, andremaining structures and/or functions optionally reside on multifunctiondevice 100.

The touch screen 112 optionally displays one or more graphics withinuser interface (UI) 200. In this embodiment, as well as others describedbelow, a user is enabled to select one or more of the graphics by makinga gesture on the graphics, for example, with one or more fingers 202(not drawn to scale in the figure) or one or more styluses 203 (notdrawn to scale in the figure). In some embodiments, selection of one ormore graphics occurs when the user breaks contact with the one or moregraphics. In some embodiments, the gesture optionally includes one ormore taps, one or more swipes (from left to right, right to left, upwardand/or downward) and/or a rolling of a finger (from right to left, leftto right, upward and/or downward) that has made contact with device 100.In some implementations or circumstances, inadvertent contact with agraphic does not select the graphic. For example, a swipe gesture thatsweeps over an application icon optionally does not select thecorresponding application when the gesture corresponding to selection isa tap.

Device 100 optionally also includes one or more physical buttons, suchas “home” or menu button 204. As described previously, menu button 204is, optionally, used to navigate to any application 136 in a set ofapplications that are, optionally executed on device 100. Alternatively,in some embodiments, the menu button is implemented as a soft key in aGUI displayed on touch screen 112.

In one embodiment, device 100 includes touch screen 112, menu button204, push button 206 for powering the device on/off and locking thedevice, volume adjustment button(s) 208, Subscriber Identity Module(SIM) card slot 210, head set jack 212, and docking/charging externalport 124. Push button 206 is, optionally, used to turn the power on/offon the device by depressing the button and holding the button in thedepressed state for a predefined time interval; to lock the device bydepressing the button and releasing the button before the predefinedtime interval has elapsed; and/or to unlock the device or initiate anunlock process. In an alternative embodiment, device 100 also acceptsverbal input for activation or deactivation of some functions throughmicrophone 113. Device 100 also, optionally, includes one or morecontact intensity sensors 165 for detecting intensity of contacts ontouch screen 112 and/or one or more tactile output generators 167 forgenerating tactile outputs for a user of device 100.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary multifunction device with adisplay and a touch-sensitive surface in accordance with someembodiments. Device 300 need not include the display and thetouch-sensitive surface, as described above, but rather, in someembodiments, optionally communicates with the display and thetouch-sensitive surface on other devices. Additionally, device 300 neednot be portable. In some embodiments, device 300 is a laptop computer, adesktop computer, a tablet computer, a multimedia player device (such asa television or a set-top box), a navigation device, an educationaldevice (such as a child's learning toy), a gaming system, or a controldevice (e.g., a home or industrial controller). Device 300 typicallyincludes one or more processing units (CPU's) 310, one or more networkor other communications interfaces 360, memory 370, and one or morecommunication buses 320 for interconnecting these components.Communication buses 320 optionally include circuitry (sometimes called achipset) that interconnects and controls communications between systemcomponents. Device 300 includes input/output (I/O) interface 330comprising display 340, which is typically a touch screen display. I/Ointerface 330 also optionally includes a keyboard and/or mouse (or otherpointing device) 350 and touchpad 355, tactile output generator 357 forgenerating tactile outputs on device 300 (e.g., similar to tactileoutput generator(s) 167 described above with reference to FIG. 1A),sensors 359 (e.g., optical, acceleration, proximity, touch-sensitive,and/or contact intensity sensors similar to contact intensity sensor(s)165 described above with reference to FIG. 1A). Memory 370 includeshigh-speed random access memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, DDR RAM or otherrandom access solid state memory devices; and optionally includesnon-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic disk storage devices,optical disk storage devices, flash memory devices, or othernon-volatile solid state storage devices. Memory 370 optionally includesone or more storage devices remotely located from CPU(s) 310. In someembodiments, memory 370 stores programs, modules, and data structuresanalogous to the programs, modules, and data structures stored in memory102 of portable or non-portable multifunction device 100 (FIG. 1A), or asubset thereof. Furthermore, memory 370 optionally stores additionalprograms, modules, and data structures not present in memory 102 ofportable or non-portable multifunction device 100. For example, memory370 of device 300 optionally stores drawing module 380, presentationmodule 382, word processing module 384, website creation module 386,disk authoring module 388, and/or spreadsheet module 390, while memory102 of portable or non-portable multifunction device 100 (FIG. 1A)optionally does not store these modules.

Each of the above identified elements in FIG. 3 are, optionally, storedin one or more of the previously mentioned memory devices. Each of theabove identified modules corresponds to a set of instructions forperforming a function described above. The above identified modules orprograms (i.e., sets of instructions) need not be implemented asseparate software programs, procedures or modules, and thus varioussubsets of these modules are, optionally, combined or otherwisere-arranged in various embodiments. In some embodiments, memory 370optionally stores a subset of the modules and data structures identifiedabove. Furthermore, memory 370 optionally stores additional modules anddata structures not described above.

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary user interface on a device (e.g., device300, FIG. 3) with a touch-sensitive surface 451 (e.g., a tablet ortouchpad 355, FIG. 3) that is separate from the display 450 (e.g., touchscreen display 112). Device 300 also, optionally, includes one or morecontact intensity sensors (e.g., one or more of sensors 359) fordetecting intensity of contacts on touch-sensitive surface 451 and/orone or more tactile output generators 357 for generating tactile outputsfor a user of device 300.

Although some of the examples which follow will be given with referenceto inputs on touch screen display 112 (where the touch sensitive surfaceand the display are combined), in some embodiments, the device detectsinputs on a touch-sensitive surface that is separate from the display,as shown in FIG. 4. In some embodiments the touch sensitive surface(e.g., 451 in FIG. 4) has a primary axis (e.g., 452 in FIG. 4) thatcorresponds to a primary axis (e.g., 453 in FIG. 4) on the display(e.g., 450). In accordance with these embodiments, the device detectscontacts (e.g., 460 and 462 in FIG. 4) with the touch-sensitive surface451 at locations that correspond to respective locations on the display(e.g., in FIG. 4, 460 corresponds to 468 and 462 corresponds to 470). Inthis way, user inputs (e.g., contacts 460 and 462, and movementsthereof) detected by the device on the touch-sensitive surface (e.g.,451 in FIG. 4) are used by the device to manipulate the user interfaceon the display (e.g., 450 in FIG. 4) of the multifunction device whenthe touch-sensitive surface is separate from the display. It should beunderstood that similar methods are, optionally, used for other userinterfaces described herein.

Additionally, while the following examples are given primarily withreference to finger inputs (e.g., finger contacts, finger tap gestures,finger swipe gestures), it should be understood that, in someembodiments, one or more of the finger inputs are replaced with inputfrom another input device (e.g., a mouse based input or stylus input).For example, a swipe gesture is, optionally, replaced with a mouse click(e.g., instead of a contact) followed by movement of the cursor alongthe path of the swipe (e.g., instead of movement of the contact). Asanother example, a tap gesture is, optionally, replaced with a mouseclick while the cursor is located over the location of the tap gesture(e.g., instead of detection of the contact followed by ceasing to detectthe contact). Similarly, when multiple user inputs are simultaneouslydetected, it should be understood that multiple computer mice are,optionally, used simultaneously, or a mouse and finger contacts are,optionally, used simultaneously.

As used herein, the term “focus selector” refers to an input elementthat indicates a current part of a user interface with which a user isinteracting. In some implementations that include a cursor or otherlocation marker, the cursor acts as a “focus selector,” so that when aninput (e.g., a press input) is detected on a touch-sensitive surface(e.g., touchpad 355 in FIG. 3 or touch-sensitive surface 451 in FIG. 4)while the cursor is over a particular user interface element (e.g., abutton, window, slider or other user interface element), the particularuser interface element is adjusted in accordance with the detectedinput. In some implementations that include a touch-screen display(e.g., touch-sensitive display system 112 in FIG. 1A or touch screen 112in FIG. 4A) that enables direct interaction with user interface elementson the touch-screen display, a detected contact on the touch-screen actsas a “focus selector,” so that when an input (e.g., a press input by thecontact) is detected on the touch-screen display at a location of aparticular user interface element (e.g., a button, window, slider orother user interface element), the particular user interface element isadjusted in accordance with the detected input. In some implementationsfocus is moved from one region of a user interface to another region ofthe user interface without corresponding movement of a cursor ormovement of a contact on a touch-screen display (e.g., by using a tabkey or arrow keys to move focus from one button to another button); inthese implementations, the focus selector moves in accordance withmovement of focus between different regions of the user interface.Without regard to the specific form taken by the focus selector, thefocus selector is generally the user interface element (or contact on atouch-screen display) that is controlled by the user so as tocommunicate the user's intended interaction with the user interface(e.g., by indicating, to the device, the element of the user interfacewith which the user is intending to interact). For example, the locationof a focus selector (e.g., a cursor, a contact or a selection box) overa respective button while a press input is detected on thetouch-sensitive surface (e.g., a touchpad or touch screen) will indicatethat the user is intending to activate the respective button (as opposedto other user interface elements shown on a display of the device).

In some embodiments described herein, one or more operations areperformed in response to detecting a gesture that includes a respectivepress input or in response to detecting the respective press inputperformed with a respective contact (or a plurality of contacts), wherethe respective press input is detected based at least in part ondetecting an increase in intensity of the contact (or plurality ofcontacts) above a press-input intensity threshold. In some embodiments,the respective operation is performed in response to detecting theincrease in intensity of the respective contact above the press-inputintensity threshold (e.g., a “down stroke” of the respective pressinput). In some embodiments, the press input includes an increase inintensity of the respective contact above the press-input intensitythreshold and a subsequent decrease in intensity of the contact belowthe press-input intensity threshold, and the respective operation isperformed in response to detecting the subsequent decrease in intensityof the respective contact below the press-input threshold (e.g., an “upstroke” of the respective press input).

In some embodiments, the device employs intensity hysteresis to avoidaccidental inputs sometimes termed “jitter,” where the device defines orselects a hysteresis intensity threshold with a predefined relationshipto the press-input intensity threshold (e.g., the hysteresis intensitythreshold is X intensity units lower than the press-input intensitythreshold or the hysteresis intensity threshold is 75%, 90% or somereasonable proportion of the press-input intensity threshold). Thus, insome embodiments, the press input includes an increase in intensity ofthe respective contact above the press-input intensity threshold and asubsequent decrease in intensity of the contact below the hysteresisintensity threshold that corresponds to the press-input intensitythreshold, and the respective operation is performed in response todetecting the subsequent decrease in intensity of the respective contactbelow the hysteresis intensity threshold (e.g., an “up stroke” of therespective press input). Similarly, in some embodiments, the press inputis detected only when the device detects an increase in intensity of thecontact from an intensity at or below the hysteresis intensity thresholdto an intensity at or above the press-input intensity threshold and,optionally, a subsequent decrease in intensity of the contact to anintensity at or below the hysteresis intensity, and the respectiveoperation is performed in response to detecting the press input (e.g.,the increase in intensity of the contact or the decrease in intensity ofthe contact, depending on the circumstances).

For ease of explanation, the description of operations performed inresponse to a press input associated with a press-input intensitythreshold or in response to a gesture including the press input are,optionally, triggered in response to detecting either: an increase inintensity of a contact above the press-input intensity threshold, anincrease in intensity of a contact from an intensity below thehysteresis intensity threshold to an intensity above the press-inputintensity threshold, a decrease in intensity of the contact below thepress-input intensity threshold, and/or a decrease in intensity of thecontact below the hysteresis intensity threshold corresponding to thepress-input intensity threshold. Additionally, in examples where anoperation is described as being performed in response to detecting adecrease in intensity of a contact below the press-input intensitythreshold, the operation is, optionally, performed in response todetecting a decrease in intensity of the contact below a hysteresisintensity threshold corresponding to, and lower than, the press-inputintensity threshold.

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary architecture for thedevice 500 according to some embodiments of the disclosure. In theembodiment of FIG. 5, media content is optionally received by device 500via network interface 502, which is optionally a wireless or wiredconnection. The one or more processors 504 optionally execute any numberof programs stored in memory 506 or storage, which optionally includesinstructions to perform one or more of the methods and/or processesdescribed herein (e.g., methods 700, 900, 1100, 1300, and/or 1500).

In some embodiments, display controller 508 causes the various userinterfaces of the disclosure to be displayed on display 500. Further,input to device 500 is optionally provided by remote 510 via remoteinterface 512, which is optionally a wireless or a wired connection. Itis understood that the embodiment of FIG. 5 is not meant to limit thefeatures of the device of the disclosure, and that other components tofacilitate other features described in the disclosure are optionallyincluded in the architecture of FIG. 5 as well. In some embodiments,device 500 optionally corresponds to one or more of multifunction device100 in FIGS. 1A and 2 and device 300 in FIG. 3; network interface 502optionally corresponds to one or more of RF circuitry 108, external port124, and peripherals interface 118 in FIGS. 1A and 2, and networkcommunications interface 360 in FIG. 3; processor 504 optionallycorresponds to one or more of processor(s) 120 in FIG. 1A and CPU(s) 310in FIG. 3; display controller 508 optionally corresponds to one or moreof display controller 156 in FIG. 1A and I/O interface 330 in FIG. 3;memory 506 optionally corresponds to one or more of memory 102 in FIG.1A and memory 370 in FIG. 3; remote interface 512 optionally correspondsto one or more of peripherals interface 118, and I/O subsystem 106(and/or its components) in FIG. 1A, and I/O interface 330 in FIG. 3;remote 512 optionally corresponds to and or includes one or more ofspeaker 111, touch-sensitive display system 112, microphone 113, opticalsensor(s) 164, contact intensity sensor(s) 165, tactile outputgenerator(s) 167, other input control devices 116, accelerometer(s) 168,proximity sensor 166, and I/O subsystem 106 in FIG. 1A, andkeyboard/mouse 350, touchpad 355, tactile output generator(s) 357, andcontact intensity sensor(s) 359 in FIG. 3, and touch-sensitive surface451 in FIG. 4; and, display 514 optionally corresponds to one or more oftouch-sensitive display system 112 in FIGS. 1A and 2, and display 340 inFIG. 3.

User Interfaces and Associated Processes Content User Interface

Many electronic devices provide user interfaces for viewing andselecting content. There is a need to provide an intuitive way todisplay and navigate among content items in a queue of upcoming itemsand a history of recently played items (e.g., songs in an album,playlist, or streaming radio). The embodiments described below provide afast, efficient, and convenient way for users to navigate through andselect various content items for consumption.

FIGS. 6A-6Y illustrate an exemplary content user interface in accordancewith some embodiments of the disclosure. The user interfaces in thesefigures are used to illustrate the processes described below, includingthe processes described below with reference to FIGS. 7A-7E.

FIG. 6A illustrates an exemplary content user interface of an electronicdevice 500, presented on a display (e.g., display 514 of device 500).The content user interface includes a plurality of content items 602-1,602-2, 602-3, 602-4, and 602-5, each corresponding to a song. Thecontent items illustrated in the figures can each include an imageassociated with the content item (e.g., the album art 620 in FIG. 6N).The content user interface further includes a “History” heading 604-1, a“Now Playing” heading 604-2, and an “Up Next” heading 604-3. The“History” heading 604-1 is associated with a plurality of content itemsin a history of content items (e.g., content items 602-1 and 602-2), andthe “History” heading is displayed adjacent to the most recently playedcontent item in the history, content item 602-2. The “Now Playing”heading 604-2 is displayed adjacent to the currently playing contentitem 602-3. The “Up Next” heading 604-3 is associated with a queue ofcontent items (e.g., content items 602-4 and 602-5), and the “Up Next”heading is displayed adjacent to the content item 602-4 that is next inthe queue of content items. Content item 602-3 is highlighted, asindicated by selection indicator 606. Information 608 and options 610related to the content item 602-3 are displayed in a region adjacent tothe content item 602-3. In some embodiments, some or all informationand/or options are only displayed adjacent to a selected content item,and in some embodiments, limited information (e.g., artist and songtitle) is displayed for unselected content items, as illustrated in FIG.6A.

FIGS. 6A-6D illustrate an example in which, as the plurality of contentitems are scrolled, each of headings 604-1, 604-2, and 604-3 scrollalong with their associated content items 602-2, 602-3, and 602-4,respectively. FIGS. 6C-6E illustrate that once the currently playingcontent item 602-3 and the content items 602-4 and 602-5 in the queue ofcontent items are scrolled off screen, the “History” heading 604-1remains stationary at the right edge of the display 514 as the userinterface scrolls through the history of recently played content items.Similarly, FIGS. 6F-6I illustrate an example in which, once thecurrently playing content item 602-3 and the content items 602-1 and602-2 in the history of content items are scrolled off screen, the “UpNext” heading 604-3 remains stationary at the left edge of the display514 as the user interface scrolls through the queue of upcoming contentitems. After scrolling away from the currently playing content item, theuser interface can skip back to the currently playing content item 602-3(e.g., in response to a swipe gesture or a period of inactivity), asillustrated in FIG. 6J.

In some embodiments, the “Now Playing” heading 604-2 and the currentlyplaying content item 602-3 remain on screen during scrolling. Forexample, while scrolling through the upcoming queue of content items,heading 604-2 and content item 602-3 optionally remain stationary on theleft edge of the display 514 while the content items in the queue ofupcoming content items scroll behind the content item 602-3. Similarly,while scrolling through the history of content items, heading 604-2 andcontent item 602-3 optionally remain stationary on the right edge of thedisplay 514 while the content items in the history scroll behind thecontent item 602-3.

FIGS. 6K-6M illustrate advancing playback from the content item 602-3 tothe content item 602-4 (e.g., in response to the content item 602-3reaching the end of its playback or user input skipping the content item602-3). The headings 604-1, 604-2, and 604-3 remain stationary as theplurality of content items 602-1, 602-2, 602-3, 602-4, and 602-5 scrollsuch that the no longer playing content item 602-3 is under the“History” heading 604-1 and the newly playing content item 602-4 isunder the “Now Playing” heading 604-2, as illustrated in FIG. 6M. FIG.6N illustrates a background image 622 based on album art 620 associatedwith the currently playing content item 602-4.

FIGS. 6O-6S illustrate a user interface for moving a content item in thequeue of content items. In FIG. 6O, input is received selecting a menuitem 624 for moving content item 602-4 in the queue. In response to theinput, the plurality of content items 602-5, 602-6, 602-7, 602-8, and602-9 are presented smaller in an updated user interface illustrated inFIGS. 6P-6R. While the updated user interface is presented, input isreceived moving the content item 602-4 between content items 602-5 and602-6 (in FIG. 6Q) and then between content items 602-6 and 602-7 (inFIG. 6R). Returning to the main user interface in FIG. 6S, the newordering of the queue of content items is represented, with content item602-4 displayed between content items 602-6 and 602-7.

FIG. 6T illustrates a streaming user interface, including a plurality ofcontent items 602-1 and 602-2 in the history and only a single contentitem 602-4 in the queue. In contrast, FIG. 6U illustrates an on-demanduser interface, including a single content item 602-2 in the history anda plurality of content items 602-4 and 602-5 in the queue. Licensingrestrictions for a streaming radio service, for example, optionallyprohibit showing more than one or two items in the “Up Next” queue, andthe user interfaces optionally differ accordingly, as illustrated inFIGS. 6T and 6U.

FIG. 6V illustrates a selection of a menu item 626 for playing theassociated content item 602-3. In response to the selection, playback ofthe content item 602-3 begins, and an additional user interface ispresented with a zoomed in view of the content item 602-3, asillustrated in FIG. 6W. The additional user interface in FIG. 6Wincludes the currently playing content item 602-3 displayed larger thanother content items 602-2, 602-4, and 602-5. The user interface alsoincludes additional information 628, including artist, song title, albumtitle, and playback time information.

FIG. 6X illustrates an additional user interface for content items fromstreaming radio, including a currently playing content item 602-3, andcontent items in the history 602-1 and 602-2, without any content itemsin an upcoming queue. FIG. 6Y illustrates an additional user interfacefor content items from a playlist including only items from a singlealbum, and thus only one image associated with a content item 602-3 isdisplayed to reduce redundancy and clutter in the user interface.

FIGS. 7A-7E are flow diagrams illustrating a method of a content userinterface in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. Themethod is optionally performed at an electronic device as describedabove with reference to FIGS. 1A-B and 2-5 (e.g., electronic device 100,300, or 500, etc.). Some operations in method 700 are, optionally,combined and/or the order of some operations is, optionally, changed.

As described below, the method 700 provides ways in which a device candisplay a content user interface. The method reduces the cognitiveburden on a user when interacting with a user interface on the device byproviding an intuitive user interface for selecting content items,thereby creating a more efficient human-machine interface. Forbattery-operated electronic devices, increasing the efficiency of theuser's interaction with the user interfaces conserves power andincreases the time between battery charges.

In some embodiments, an electronic device 500 with one or moreprocessors and memory generates (702) for presentation on a display(e.g., a remote display device or a display that is integrated into theelectronic device) a user interface including a plurality of contentitems (e.g., album art associated with individual songs and/or albums orplaylists, such as content items 602-1, 602-2, 602-3, 602-4, and 602-5in FIG. 6A), a first heading (e.g., “Now Playing” heading 604-2 in FIG.6A), and a second heading (e.g., “Up Next” heading 604-3 in FIG. 6A).

While the user interface is presented on the display, the electronicdevice receives (720) input scrolling the plurality of content items(e.g., a swipe, a tap, button press, etc.). In response to the input,the electronic device scrolls (722) the plurality of content itemsincluding: scrolling (724) the first heading with a first content itemof the plurality of content items that is currently playing; andscrolling (726) the second heading with a second content item of theplurality of content items that is next in a queue of content items(e.g., the second content item will play following the first contentitem that is currently playing). For example, the first content itemoptionally remains under the first heading during the scrolling, and thesecond content item optionally remains under the second heading duringthe scrolling, as illustrated with headings 604-1, 604-2, and 604-3 andcorresponding content items 602-2, 602-3, and 602-4, respectively, inFIGS. 6A-6D and 6F.

In some embodiments, scrolling the plurality of content items furtherincludes scrolling (728) the first heading and the first content itemoffscreen (as illustrated with heading 604-2 and content item 602-3 fromFIGS. 6F-6G). While the second heading is presented (730) stationary onthe display, the electronic device optionally scrolls (732) the secondcontent item offscreen, and optionally scrolls (734) onscreen aplurality of additional content items that are upcoming in the queue ofcontent items (e.g., the additional content items will play followingthe second content item). For example, in FIGS. 6F-6I, the content item602-4 is scrolled offscreen while the heading 604-3 is presentedstationary on the left edge of the display 514.

In some embodiments, while the user interface is presented on thedisplay and the first content item is offscreen, the electronic deviceoptionally receives (746) a swipe gesture having a first characteristic(e.g., a finger speed, a duration, etc.). In accordance with adetermination that the first characteristic of the swipe gesture exceedsa predetermined threshold, the electronic device optionally scrolls(748) the plurality of content items such that the first content item ispresented on the display (e.g., the content items snap back to thecurrently playing content item). For example, the user interfaceoptionally snaps back to the currently playing content item 602-3, asillustrated in FIG. 6J. In accordance with a determination that thefirst characteristic of the swipe gesture does not exceed apredetermined threshold, the electronic device optionally scrolls (750)through the plurality of content items by an amount (e.g., a number ofcontent items or a distance on the display) that is based on the firstcharacteristic.

In some embodiments, while the user interface is presented on thedisplay and the first content item is offscreen, the electronic deviceoptionally determines (752) a time period in which no input is received.In accordance with a determination that the time period exceeds apredetermined threshold, the electronic device optionally scrolls (754)the plurality of content items such that the first content item ispresented on the display (e.g., the content items snap back to thecurrently playing content item so that if the user is exploring up nextcontent and then walks away from the display, when the user walks backto the display the now playing content will be displayed). For example,the user interface optionally snaps back to the currently playingcontent item 602-3, as illustrated in FIG. 6J.

In some embodiments, the user interface further includes (704) a thirdheading (e.g., “History” heading 604-1) that is displayed concurrentlywith the first heading (e.g., “Now Playing” heading 604-2) and thesecond heading (e.g., “Up Next” 604-3) before receiving the input.Scrolling the plurality of content items optionally further includesscrolling (736) the third heading with a third content item of theplurality of content items that is most recently played in a history ofcontent items (e.g., the second content item was played prior to thefirst content item being played), and scrolling (738) the first headingand the first content item offscreen. While the third heading ispresented (740) stationary on the display, the electronic deviceoptionally scrolls (742) the third content item offscreen, andoptionally scrolls (744) onscreen a plurality of additional contentitems in the history of content items (e.g., the additional contentitems were played before the third content item). For example, in FIGS.6A-6E, the content item 602-2 is scrolled offscreen while the heading604-1 is presented stationary on the right edge of the display 514.

In some embodiments, while the user interface is presented on thedisplay, the electronic device optionally receives (756) input selectinga respective content item of the plurality of content items. In responseto the input selecting the respective content item, the electronicdevice optionally plays (758) the respective content item, andoptionally zooms in on an image associated with the respective contentitem. For example, FIG. 6V illustrates a selection of a menu item 626for playing the associated content item 602-3. An additional userinterface is illustrated in FIG. 6W including a zoomed in view of thecontent item 602-3.

In some embodiments, while the user interface is presented on thedisplay, the electronic device optionally receives (760) inputrequesting to move a respective content item of the queue of contentitems (e.g., moving an item in the “Up Next” queue). In response to theinput requesting to move the respective content item, the electronicdevice optionally updates (762) the user interface by presenting theplurality of content items smaller in the updated user interface (e.g.,in FIGS. 6O-6P, zooming out on the content items 602-4, 602-5, 602-6,602-7, 602-8, and 602-9; hiding the “Now Playing” content item 602-3;only presenting the “Up Next” queue of content items; etc.). While theupdated user interface is presented on the display, the electronicdevice optionally moves (764) the respective content item in the queueof content items in response to input (e.g., in FIGS. 6P-6R, moving therespective content item 602-4 left or right in the queue in response toa left or right swipe or button press).

In some embodiments, while the user interface is presented on thedisplay, the electronic device optionally receives (766) a request topresent an additional user interface associated with the currentlyplaying first content item. In response to the request, the electronicdevice optionally generates (768) for presentation on the display theadditional user interface including a first image (e.g. content item602-3 in FIGS. 6W-6Y) associated with the first content item (e.g., thealbum art for the first content item is displayed larger in the nowplaying interface than in the queue interface). In some embodiments, thenow playing interface includes information about the currently playingcontent item not included in the queue interface (e.g., the now playinginterface optionally includes a current playback time and a totalduration of the currently playing content item, as illustrated in FIGS.6W-6Y).

In some embodiments, the first content item and the second content itemare both associated (770) with a same album, and the first image isassociated with the same album (e.g., when all the songs in the queueare from the same album, that album art is displayed and no other albumart is displayed, as illustrated in FIG. 6Y). In some embodiments, thefirst content item is optionally associated (772) with a first album,the second content item is optionally associated with a second album(different from the first album), and the additional user interfaceoptionally further includes a second image associated with the secondcontent item (e.g., when the playlist includes content items frommultiple albums, the now playing interface optionally includes one ormore images showing album art for upcoming songs and/or songs in thehistory, as illustrated in FIG. 6W).

In some embodiments, the plurality of content items further includes(774) a third content item that is most recently played in a history ofcontent items played from streaming radio (e.g., songs streamed over theInternet or other network in a playlist wherein the precise order andcontent of the playlist is not chosen by a user of the electronic deviceand is instead selected by an intelligent algorithm or a remote usersuch as a disc jockey (DJ)), and the additional user interfaceoptionally further includes a third image associated with the thirdcontent item (e.g., when the content items are from a streaming radiostation/playlist, the now playing interface optionally includes one ormore images showing album art for songs in the history). In someembodiments, the now playing interface for streaming radio optionallydoes not include upcoming songs due to contractual obligations (asillustrated in FIG. 6X), although some embodiments optionally includeupcoming songs for streaming radio. In some embodiments, the now playinginterface for streaming radio optionally includes a purchase price forthe currently playing content item.

In some embodiments, the user interface further includes (706) abackground image based on album art associated with the currentlyplaying first content item (e.g., the album art is optionally zoomed insuch that portions of the album art are not visible onscreen, as withthe background image 622 in FIG. 6N, and/or some or all of the album artis optionally blurred or otherwise visually distorted, etc.). Thisprovides a subtle cue as to the current audio that is playing, andoptionally changes as the audio that is playing changes. In someembodiments, the album art in the background image optionally changes toalbum art associated with the second content item as playback advancesto the second content item. In some embodiments, the album art is usedas the background even when the content items are scrolled so that thefirst content item is no longer displayed in the user interface.

In some embodiments, the electronic device advances (776) playback suchthat the second content item is currently playing and the first contentitem is no longer currently playing, and, while the first and secondheadings are presented stationary on the display, the electronic deviceoptionally scrolls (778) the first and second content items such thatthe currently playing second content item is under the first heading(and, optionally, changing a background image including album artassociated with the first content item to album art associated with thesecond content item). Thus, in some embodiments, when a first song thatis currently playing ends and a second song (that is after the firstsong) starts playing, the content items shift over while the headersremain in place (e.g., because the first song is no longer a now playingsong and thus is moved to the history section, while the next song isnow a now playing song and is removed from the up next section). Forexample, FIGS. 6K-6M illustrate advancing playback from the content item602-3 to the content item 602-4, as both content items scroll while theheadings 604-1, 604-2, and 604-3 remain stationary.

In some embodiments, in accordance with a determination that theplurality of content items are on-demand content items, the userinterface is optionally (708) an on-demand user interface (e.g., a userof the device has requested to play content from a media library of theuser such as a media database that includes locally stored content). Inaccordance with a determination that the plurality of content items arestreaming content items, the user interface is optionally (710) astreaming user interface (e.g., the user of the device has requested toplay streaming audio such as from a subscription music service such asinternet radio or on-demand streaming audio), different from theon-demand user interface.

In some embodiments, presenting the on-demand user interface on thedisplay includes presenting (712) a first quantity of the content itemsin the queue of content items, and presenting the streaming userinterface on the display optionally includes (714) presenting a secondquantity of the content items in the queue of content items, the secondquantity being less than the first quantity. For example, licensingrestrictions for a streaming radio service optionally prohibit showingmore than one or two items in the “Up Next” queue, and the userinterfaces optionally differ accordingly. FIG. 6T illustrates astreaming user interface including a single content item 602-4 in an “UpNext” queue, whereas FIG. 6U illustrates an on-demand user interfacewith a plurality of content items 602-4 and 602-5 in the queue.

In some embodiments, presenting the on-demand user interface on thedisplay includes presenting (716) only a single content item in ahistory of content items (with more content items in the historyoptionally presented in response to scrolling), and presenting thestreaming user interface on the display optionally includes (718)presenting a plurality of content items in the history of content items.For example, licensing restrictions for a streaming radio serviceoptionally prohibit showing more than one or two items in the “Up Next”queue, so the streaming radio user interface can show more of thehistory. FIG. 6T illustrates a streaming user interface including aplurality of content items 602-1 and 602-2 in the history, whereas FIG.6U illustrates an on-demand user interface with only a single contentitem 602-2 in the history (e.g., for an on-demand audio stream, theupcoming tracks are all known while for a streaming radio userinterface, frequently only one or two upcoming tracks are known).

In some embodiments, while a first content item is playing on anelectronic device in communication with a display device and one or moreinput devices, the electronic device concurrently displays (780), viathe display device, a first plurality of representations of contentitems available for playing on the electronic device, wherein a firstrespective representation of the first plurality of representations iscurrently selected (782), and a representation corresponding to thefirst content item that is currently playing on the electronic device(784). In some embodiments, while concurrently displaying the firstplurality of representations of content items available for playing onthe electronic device and the representation corresponding to the firstcontent item that is playing on the electronic device, the electronicdevice receives (786), via the one or more input devices, an input. Insome embodiments, in response to receiving the input (788), inaccordance with a determination that the input corresponds to a requestto move the current selection from the first respective representationto a second respective representation of a second content item availablefor playing on the electronic device, the electronic device moves (790)the current selection from the first respective representation to thesecond respective representation, while maintaining playback of thefirst content item, and display, via the display device, of therepresentation corresponding to the first content item that is currentlyplaying on the electronic device.

The operations in the information processing methods described aboveare, optionally, implemented by running one or more functional modulesin an information processing apparatus such as general purposeprocessors (e.g., as described above with respect to FIGS. 1A and 3) orapplication specific chips.

The operations described above with reference to FIGS. 7A-7E are,optionally, implemented by components depicted in FIGS. 1A-1B. Forexample, generating operation 702, receiving operation 720, scrollingoperation 722, scrolling operation 724, and scrolling operation 726 are,optionally implemented by event sorter 170, event recognizer 180, andevent handler 190. Event monitor 171 in event sorter 170 detects acontact on touch-sensitive display 112, and event dispatcher module 174delivers the event information to application 136-1. A respective eventrecognizer 180 of application 136-1 compares the event information torespective event definitions 186, and determines whether a first contactat a first location on the touch-sensitive surface corresponds to apredefined event or sub-event, such as selection of an object on a userinterface. When a respective predefined event or sub-event is detected,event recognizer 180 activates an event handler 190 associated with thedetection of the event or sub-event. Event handler 190 optionallyutilizes or calls data updater 176 or object updater 177 to update theapplication internal state 192. In some embodiments, event handler 190accesses a respective GUI updater 178 to update what is displayed by theapplication. Similarly, it would be clear to a person having ordinaryskill in the art how other processes can be implemented based on thecomponents depicted in FIGS. 1A-1B.

It should be understood that the particular order in which theoperations in FIGS. 7A-7E have been described is merely exemplary and isnot intended to indicate that the described order is the only order inwhich the operations could be performed. One of ordinary skill in theart would recognize various ways to reorder the operations describedherein. Additionally, it should be noted that details of other processesdescribed herein with respect to other methods described herein (e.g.,method 900) are also applicable in an analogous manner to method 700described above with respect to FIGS. 7A-7E. For example, the userinterfaces, user interface objects, queue, history, headings, regions,album art, content items, information, menu items, and electronicdevices described above with reference to method 700 optionally have oneor more of the characteristics of the user interfaces, user interfaceobjects, queue, history, headings, regions, album art, content items,information, menu items, and electronic devices described herein withreference to other methods described herein (e.g., method 900). Forbrevity, these details are not repeated here.

Simplified Content User Interface

Many electronic devices provide cluttered and unintuitive userinterfaces for viewing and selecting content. There is a need to providean intuitive way to cleanly and simply display and navigate amongcontent items in a queue of upcoming items and a history of recentlyplayed items (e.g., songs in an album, playlist, or streaming radio).The embodiments described below provide a fast, efficient, andconvenient way for users to navigate through and select various contentitems for consumption by hiding information and menu items forunselected content items.

FIGS. 8A-8L illustrate an exemplary simplified content user interface inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. The user interfacesin these figures are used to illustrate processes described below,including the processes described below with reference to FIGS. 9A-9E.

FIG. 8A illustrates an exemplary simplified content user interface of anelectronic device 500, presented on a display (e.g., display 514 ofdevice 500). The simplified content user interface includes userinterface objects 802-1, 802-2, 802-3, 802-4, and 802-5, eachcorresponding to a content item (e.g., a song, a movie, etc.). Userinterface object 802-2 is displayed adjacent to the associated region806-1, user interface object 802-3 is displayed adjacent to theassociated region 806-2, and user interface object 802-5 is displayedadjacent to the associated region 806-3. Information associated with theuser interface object is displayed in the associated region when theuser interface object is selected.

For example, user interface object 802-3 is selected in FIG. 8A, andinformation 808 associated with the user interface object 802-3 isdisplayed in the associated region 806-2. In FIG. 8B, user interfaceobject 802-2 is selected, information 810 associated with the selecteduser interface object 802-2 is displayed in the associated region 806-1,and the information 808 is no longer displayed in region 806-2. In FIG.8C, user interface object 802-5 is selected, information 812 associatedwith the selected user interface object 802-5 is displayed in theassociated region 806-3, and the information 810 is no longer displayedin region 806-1. In FIG. 8D, user interface object 802-7 is selected,information 814 associated with the selected user interface object 802-7is displayed in the associated region 806-4, and the information 812 isno longer displayed in region 806-3.

In FIGS. 8A-8C, the information displayed when a user interface objectis selected includes both selectable menu items and non-selectableinformation associated with the user interface object. For example,non-selectable release dates 816, 820, and 824 are displayed forassociated user interface objects 802-3, 802-2, and 802-5, respectively.In addition, selectable menu items “Pause” 818, “Add to Up Next” 822,and “Move” 826 are displayed for associated user interface objects802-3, 802-2, and 802-5, respectively. In some embodiments, selectableitems are different based on the particular user interface objects. Forexample, user interface object 802-3 is a currently playing contentitem, so the menu item “Pause” 818 is displayed when it is selected.User interface object 802-2 is in a history of recently played contentitems, so the menu item “Add to Up Next” 822 is displayed when it isselected to allow the user to play the song again. User interface object802-5 is in a queue of upcoming content items, so the menu item “Move”826 is displayed when it is selected to allow the user to move theposition of the song within the queue.

As illustrated in FIGS. 8E-8H, selectable menu items include textdescribing actions to be performed with respect to the selected contentitem. For example, in FIG. 8E, menu item “Play Now” 828 is selectable toplay a content item associated with the selected user interface object802-2 (as illustrated in FIG. 8F). In FIG. 8G, menu item “Move” 830 isselectable to move a content item associated with the selected userinterface object 802-5 within the queue of content items (as illustratedin FIG. 8H).

FIGS. 8I-8L illustrate scrolling information associated with userinterface objects. For example, FIGS. 8I and 8J illustrate scrolling theinformation 812 associated with selected user interface object 802-5while the user interface object 802-7 remains stationary. Similarly,FIGS. 8K and 8L illustrate scrolling the information 814 associated withselected user interface object 802-7 while the user interface object802-5 remains stationary.

FIGS. 9A-9E are flow diagrams illustrating a method of a simplifiedcontent user interface in accordance with some embodiments. The methodis optionally performed at an electronic device as described above withreference to FIGS. 1-5 (e.g., electronic device 100, 300, or 500, etc.).Some operations in method 900 are, optionally, combined and/or the orderof some operations is, optionally, changed.

As described below, the method 900 provides a simplified content userinterface. The method reduces the cognitive burden on a user wheninteracting with a user interface on the device by providing anintuitive user interface for selecting content items, thereby creating amore efficient human-machine interface. For battery-operated electronicdevices, increasing the efficiency of the user's interaction with theuser interfaces conserves power and increases the time between batterycharges.

In some embodiments, an electronic device 500 with one or moreprocessors and memory generates (902) for presentation on a display(e.g., a remote display device or a display that is integrated into theelectronic device) a user interface including: a first user interfaceobject (904) (e.g., cover art for an album, poster for a movie, etc.)that is associated with a first region of the user interface that isadjacent to the first user interface object (e.g., below the first UIobject in a first column), and a second user interface object (908)(e.g., cover art for an album, poster for a movie, etc.) that isassociated with a second region of the user interface that is adjacentto the second user interface object and is different from the firstregion (e.g., below the second UI object in a second column, differentfrom the first column). For example, FIGS. 8A and 8B illustrate a userinterface object 802-3 associated with an adjacent region 806-2, and auser interface object 802-2 associated with an adjacent region 806-1.

While the first user interface object is selected (920), the electronicdevice causes (922) display, in the first region, of first informationthat is associated with the first user interface object (e.g.,information describing content associated with the first UI object andmenu items for performing actions with respect to the content) anddetects (936) selection of the second user interface object. Forexample, FIG. 8A illustrates displaying information 808 in region 806-2while the user interface object 802-3 is selected.

In response to detecting selection of the second user interface objectwhile the first information is displayed in the first region (938), theelectronic device causes (940) an end of display of the firstinformation in the first region while maintaining display of the firstuser interface object, and causes (942) display, in the second region,of second information that is associated with the second user interfaceobject (e.g., information describing content associated with the secondUI object and menu items for performing actions with respect to thecontent). For example, in FIG. 8B, user interface object 802-2 isselected, information 810 associated with the selected user interfaceobject 802-2 is displayed in the associated region 806-1, and theinformation 808 is no longer displayed in region 806-2.

In some embodiments, the electronic device receives (952) inputscrolling the first and second user interface objects (e.g., a swipe, atap, button press, etc.), and in response to the input scrolling thefirst and second user interface objects, optionally scrolls (954) thefirst region along with the first user interface object and optionallyscrolls the second region along with the second user interface object.For example, FIGS. 8A-8D illustrate scrolling the regions 806-1, 806-2,and 806-3 along with the user interface objects 802-2, 802-3, and 802-5,respectively.

In some embodiments, the first information includes (924) one or moreselectable items including a first menu item. While the first userinterface object is selected, the electronic device optionally receives(930) a selection of the first selectable item (e.g., user inputselecting the first menu item while the first menu item is highlighted).In response to the selection of the first menu item, the electronicdevice optionally presents (932) a first user interface responsecorresponding to the first selectable item (e.g., playing a content itemassociated with the first user interface object, displaying a userinterface associated with the first menu item, etc.). For example, inFIG. 8E, menu item “Play Now” 828 is selectable to play a content itemassociated with the selected user interface object 802-2 (as illustratedin FIG. 8F).

In some embodiments, the second information includes (944) one or moremenu items including a second selectable item. While the second userinterface object is selected, the electronic device optionally receives(956) a selection of the second selectable item (e.g., user inputselecting the second selectable item while the second selectable item ishighlighted). In response to the selection of the second selectableitem, the electronic device optionally presents (958) a second userinterface response corresponding to the second selectable item (e.g.,playing a content item associated with the second user interface object,displaying a user interface associated with the second selectable item,etc.). For example, in FIG. 8G, menu item “Move” 830 is selectable tomove a content item associated with the selected user interface object802-5 within the queue of content items (as illustrated in FIG. 8H).

In some embodiments, the one or more selectable items of the firstinformation are different (946) from the one or more selectable items ofthe second information (in accordance with a determination that thefirst user interface object belongs to a different group (e.g.,“History”) than the second user interface object (e.g., “Now Playing” or“Up Next”)). For example, in FIG. 8A, user interface object 802-3 is acurrently playing content item, so the menu item “Pause” 818 isdisplayed when it is selected. In FIG. 8B, user interface object 802-2is in a history of recently played content items, so the menu item “Addto Up Next” 822 is displayed when it is selected to allow the user toplay the song again. In FIG. 8C, user interface object 802-5 is in aqueue of upcoming content items, so the menu item “Move” 826 isdisplayed when it is selected to allow the user to move the position ofthe song within the queue. Simplifying the user interface by forgoingdisplaying user interface elements that the user is not directlyinteracting with enables the user to more easily focus on those userinterface elements and use the device more quickly and efficiently,thereby improving user experience and reducing the amount of time (andtherefore energy) spent using the device, which is particularly relevantfor battery powered devices.

In some embodiments, the first user interface object corresponds (906)to a first content item, the second user interface object optionallycorresponds (910) to a second content item, the first user interfaceresponse is optionally associated (934) with the first content item, andthe second user interface response is optionally associated (960) withthe second content item. For example, in FIG. 8E, menu item “Play Now”828 is selectable to play a content item associated with the selecteduser interface object 802-2 (as illustrated in FIG. 8F), and in FIG. 8G,menu item “Move” 830 is selectable to move a content item associatedwith the selected user interface object 802-5 within the queue ofcontent items (as illustrated in FIG. 8H).

In some embodiments, the one or more selectable items of the firstinformation include (926) text describing actions to be performed withrespect to the first content item (e.g., playing the content item,moving the content item in a queue, purchasing the content item, etc.,such as text 828 in FIG. 8E), and the one or more selectable items ofthe second information optionally include (948) text describing actionsto be performed with respect to the second content item (e.g., playingthe content item, moving the content item in a queue, purchasing thecontent item, etc., such as text 830 in FIG. 8G).

In some embodiments, the first information further includes (928) textdescribing the first content item (e.g., song title, release date,purchase price, etc., such as text 816 in FIG. 8A), and the secondinformation optionally further includes (950) text describing the secondcontent item (e.g., song title, release date, purchase price, etc., suchas text 820 in FIG. 8B).

In some embodiments, the electronic device receives (962) scrollinginput (e.g., a swipe, a tap, button press, etc.). In response (964) toreceiving the scrolling input: in accordance with a determination thatthe first user interface object is selected, the electronic deviceoptionally scrolls (966) the first information while the second userinterface object remains stationary; and in accordance with adetermination that the second user interface object is selected, theelectronic device optionally scrolls (968) the second information whilethe first user interface object remains stationary. For example, FIGS.8I and 8J illustrate scrolling the information 812 associated withselected user interface object 802-5 while the user interface object802-7 remains stationary. Similarly, FIGS. 8K and 8L illustratescrolling the information 814 associated with selected user interfaceobject 802-7 while the user interface object 802-5 remains stationary.

In some embodiments, generating the user interface includes aligning(914) the first and second user interface objects along a first axis,and positioning (916) the first region adjacent to the first userinterface object along a second axis that is substantially perpendicular(e.g., the first and second axes are within ten degrees ofperpendicular) to the first axis and positioning the second regionadjacent to the second associated user interface object along the secondaxis. For example, in FIG. 8A, the user interface objects 802-2 and802-3 are aligned along a horizontal axis, the region 806-1 ispositioned adjacent to the user interface object 802-2 along a verticalaxis that is substantially perpendicular to the horizontal axis, and theregion 806-2 is positioned adjacent to the user interface object 802-3along the vertical axis.

In some embodiments, the first and second user interface objects are(918) both images having identical spatial dimensions (e.g., the firstand second user interface objects have the same height and width, butare different images, such as different album covers). For example, inFIG. 8A, the user interface objects 802-2 and 802-3 are both albumcovers having the same height and width.

In some embodiments, the user interface includes (912) a third userinterface object (e.g., cover art for an album, poster for a movie,etc.) that is associated with a third region of the user interface thatis adjacent to the third user interface object and is different from thefirst region and the second region (e.g., below the third UI object in athird column, different from the first column and the second column).For example, the user interface object 802-5 is associated with theadjacent region 806-3 that is different from regions 806-1 and 806-2.The electronic device, while the second user interface object isselected and the second information that is associated with the seconduser interface object is displayed in the second region, optionallydetects (970) selection of the third user interface object. In responseto detecting selection of the third user interface object while thesecond information is displayed in the second region (972), theelectronic device optionally causes (974) an end of display of thesecond information in the second region while maintaining display of thesecond user interface object and optionally causes (976) display, in thethird region, of third information that is associated with the thirduser interface object (e.g., information describing content associatedwith the third UI object and menu items for performing actions withrespect to the content). For example, in FIG. 8C, user interface object802-5 is selected, information 812 associated with the selected userinterface object 802-5 is displayed in the associated region 806-3, theinformation 810 is no longer displayed in region 806-1, and theinformation 808 is no longer displayed in region 806-2. In someembodiments, a plurality of additional user interface objects withcorresponding regions are displayed in the user interface and share someof the characteristics of the first, second, and third user interfaceobjects described above. In some embodiments, information correspondingto a selected one of the user interface objects is displayed in theregion corresponding to the selected user interface object andinformation corresponding to non-selected user interface objects is notdisplayed, so as to enable the user to focus on the currently selecteduser interface object and the options available for interacting with thecurrently selected user interface object.

The operations in the information processing methods described aboveare, optionally, implemented by running one or more functional modulesin an information processing apparatus such as general purposeprocessors (e.g., as described above with respect to FIGS. 1A and 3) orapplication specific chips.

The operations described above with reference to FIGS. 9A-9E are,optionally, implemented by components depicted in FIGS. 1A-1B. Forexample, generating operation 902, causing operation 922, detectingoperation 936, causing operation 940, and causing operation 942 are,optionally implemented by event sorter 170, event recognizer 180, andevent handler 190. Event monitor 171 in event sorter 170 detects acontact on touch-sensitive display 112, and event dispatcher module 174delivers the event information to application 136-1. A respective eventrecognizer 180 of application 136-1 compares the event information torespective event definitions 186, and determines whether a first contactat a first location on the touch-sensitive surface corresponds to apredefined event or sub-event, such as selection of an object on a userinterface. When a respective predefined event or sub-event is detected,event recognizer 180 activates an event handler 190 associated with thedetection of the event or sub-event. Event handler 190 optionallyutilizes or calls data updater 176 or object updater 177 to update theapplication internal state 192. In some embodiments, event handler 190accesses a respective GUI updater 178 to update what is displayed by theapplication. Similarly, it would be clear to a person having ordinaryskill in the art how other processes can be implemented based on thecomponents depicted in FIGS. 1A-1B.

It should be understood that the particular order in which theoperations in FIGS. 9A-9E have been described is merely exemplary and isnot intended to indicate that the described order is the only order inwhich the operations could be performed. One of ordinary skill in theart would recognize various ways to reorder the operations describedherein. Additionally, it should be noted that details of other processesdescribed herein with respect to other methods described herein (e.g.,method 700) are also applicable in an analogous manner to method 900described above with respect to FIGS. 9A-9E. For example, the userinterfaces, user interface objects, queue, history, headings, regions,album art, content items, information, menu items, and electronicdevices described above with reference to method 900 optionally have oneor more of the characteristics of the user interfaces, user interfaceobjects, queue, history, headings, regions, album art, content items,information, menu items, and electronic devices described herein withreference to other methods described herein (e.g., method 700). Forbrevity, these details are not repeated here.

In accordance with some embodiments, FIG. 10 shows a functional blockdiagram of an electronic device 1000 configured in accordance with theprinciples of the various described embodiments. The functional blocksof the device are, optionally, implemented by hardware, software, or acombination of hardware and software to carry out the principles of thevarious described embodiments. It is understood by persons of skill inthe art that the functional blocks described in FIG. 10 are, optionally,combined or separated into sub-blocks to implement the principles of thevarious described embodiments. Therefore, the description hereinoptionally supports any possible combination or separation or furtherdefinition of the functional blocks described herein.

As shown in FIG. 10, an electronic device 1000 optionally includes adisplay unit 1002 configured to display a user interface including oneor more user interface objects (e.g., content items, headings, etc.); aninput unit 1004 to receive user input, selections, etc. (e.g.,touch-sensitive surface, keyboard, mouse, or other input unit); an audiounit 1008 to playback audio and/or send audio to another device foraudio playback; and a processing unit 1010 coupled to the display unit1002 and the input unit 1004. In some embodiments, the processing unit1010 optionally includes a display enabling unit 1012, a receiving unit1014, a determining unit 1016, and an audio enabling unit 1018.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1010 is configured to generate(e.g., with the display enabling unit 1012) for presentation on adisplay a user interface including a plurality of content items, a firstheading, and a second heading. While the user interface is presented onthe display, the processing unit 1010 is configured to receive (e.g.,with the receiving unit 1014) input scrolling the plurality of contentitems. In response to the input, the processing unit 1010 is configuredto scroll (e.g., with the display enabling unit 1012) the plurality ofcontent items including: scrolling (e.g., with the display enabling unit1012) the first heading with a first content item of the plurality ofcontent items that is currently playing; and scrolling (e.g., with thedisplay enabling unit 1012) the second heading with a second contentitem of the plurality of content items that is next in a queue ofcontent items.

In some embodiments, scrolling the plurality of content items furtherincludes: scrolling (e.g., with the display enabling unit 1012) thefirst heading and the first content item offscreen; and while the secondheading is presented stationary on the display: scrolling (e.g., withthe display enabling unit 1012) the second content item offscreen; andscrolling (e.g., with the display enabling unit 1012) onscreen aplurality of additional content items that are upcoming in the queue ofcontent items.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1010 is further configured to,while the user interface is presented on the display and the firstcontent item is offscreen, receive (e.g., with the receiving unit 1014)a swipe gesture having a first characteristic. In accordance with adetermination that the first characteristic of the swipe gesture exceedsa predetermined threshold, the processing unit 1010 is furtherconfigured to scroll (e.g., with the display enabling unit 1012) theplurality of content items such that the first content item is presentedon the display, and in accordance with a determination that the firstcharacteristic of the swipe gesture does not exceed a predeterminedthreshold, the processing unit 1010 is further configured to scroll(e.g., with the display enabling unit 1012) through the plurality ofcontent items by an amount that is based on the first characteristic.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1010 is further configured to,while the user interface is presented on the display and the firstcontent item is offscreen, determine (e.g., with the determining unit1016) a time period in which no input is received. In accordance with adetermination that the time period exceeds a predetermined threshold,the processing unit 1010 is further configured to scroll (e.g., with thedisplay enabling unit 1012) the plurality of content items such that thefirst content item is presented on the display.

In some embodiments, the user interface further includes a third headingthat is displayed (e.g., with the display enabling unit 1012)concurrently with the first heading and the second heading beforereceiving the input, and scrolling the plurality of content itemsfurther includes: scrolling (e.g., with the display enabling unit 1012)the third heading with a third content item of the plurality of contentitems that is most recently played in a history of content items;scrolling (e.g., with the display enabling unit 1012) the first headingand the first content item offscreen; and while the third heading ispresented stationary on the display: scrolling (e.g., with the displayenabling unit 1012) the third content item offscreen; and scrolling(e.g., with the display enabling unit 1012) onscreen a plurality ofadditional content items in the history of content items.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1010 is further configured to,while the user interface is presented on the display, receive (e.g.,with the receiving unit 1014) input selecting a respective content itemof the plurality of content items. In response to the input selectingthe respective content item, the processing unit 1010 is furtherconfigured to play (e.g., with the audio enabling unit 1018) therespective content item and zoom in (e.g., with the display enablingunit 1012) on an image associated with the respective content item.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1010 is further configured to,while the user interface is presented on the display, receive (e.g.,with the receiving unit 1014) input requesting to move a respectivecontent item of the queue of content items. In response to the inputrequesting to move the respective content item, the processing unit 1010is further configured to update (e.g., with the display enabling unit1012) the user interface by presenting the plurality of content itemssmaller in the updated user interface. While the updated user interfaceis presented on the display, the processing unit 1010 is furtherconfigured to move (e.g., with the display enabling unit 1012) therespective content item in the queue of content items in response toinput.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1010 is further configured to,while the user interface is presented on the display, receive (e.g.,with the receiving unit 1014) a request to present an additional userinterface associated with the currently playing first content item. Inresponse to the request, the processing unit 1010 is further configuredto generate (e.g., with the display enabling unit 1012) for presentationon the display the additional user interface including a first imageassociated with the first content item. In some embodiments, the firstcontent item and the second content item are both associated with a samealbum, and the first image is associated with the same album. In someembodiments, the first content item is associated with a first album,the second content item is associated with a second album, and theadditional user interface further includes a second image associatedwith the second content item. In some embodiments, the plurality ofcontent items further includes a third content item that is mostrecently played in a history of content items played from streamingradio, and the additional user interface further includes a third imageassociated with the third content item. In some embodiments, the userinterface further includes a background image based on album artassociated with the currently playing first content item.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1010 is further configured toadvance (e.g., with the audio enabling unit 1018) playback such that thesecond content item is currently playing and the first content item isno longer currently playing. While the first and second headings arepresented stationary on the display, the processing unit 1010 is furtherconfigured to scroll (e.g., with the display enabling unit 1012) thefirst and second content items such that the currently playing secondcontent item is under the first heading.

In some embodiments, in accordance with a determination that theplurality of content items are on-demand content items, the userinterface is an on-demand user interface; and in accordance with adetermination that the plurality of content items are streaming contentitems, the user interface is a streaming user interface, different fromthe on-demand user interface. In some embodiments, presenting theon-demand user interface on the display includes presenting (e.g., withthe display enabling unit 1012) a first quantity of the content items inthe queue of content items, and presenting the streaming user interfaceon the display includes presenting (e.g., with the display enabling unit1012) a second quantity of the content items in the queue of contentitems, the second quantity being less than the first quantity. In someembodiments, presenting the on-demand user interface on the displayincludes presenting (e.g., with the display enabling unit 1012) only asingle content item in a history of content items, and presenting thestreaming user interface on the display includes presenting (e.g., withthe display enabling unit 1012) a plurality of content items in thehistory of content items.

In accordance with some embodiments, FIG. 11 shows a functional blockdiagram of an electronic device 1100 configured in accordance with theprinciples of the various described embodiments. The functional blocksof the device are, optionally, implemented by hardware, software, or acombination of hardware and software to carry out the principles of thevarious described embodiments. It is understood by persons of skill inthe art that the functional blocks described in FIG. 11 are, optionally,combined or separated into sub-blocks to implement the principles of thevarious described embodiments. Therefore, the description hereinoptionally supports any possible combination or separation or furtherdefinition of the functional blocks described herein.

As shown in FIG. 11, an electronic device 1100 optionally includes adisplay unit 1102 configured to display a user interface including oneor more user interface objects (e.g., content items, headings, etc.); aninput unit 1104 to receive user input, selections, etc. (e.g.,touch-sensitive surface, keyboard, mouse, or other input unit); an audiounit 1108 to playback audio and/or send audio to another device foraudio playback; and a processing unit 1110 coupled to the display unit1102 and the input unit 1104. In some embodiments, the processing unit1110 optionally includes a display enabling unit 1112, a receiving unit1114, a detecting unit 1116, and an audio enabling unit 1118.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1110 is configured to generate(e.g., with the display enabling unit 1112) for presentation on adisplay a user interface including: a first user interface object thatis associated with a first region of the user interface that is adjacentto the first user interface object; and a second user interface objectthat is associated with a second region of the user interface that isadjacent to the second user interface object and is different from thefirst region. While the first user interface object is selected, theprocessing unit 1110 is configured to cause display (e.g., with thedisplay enabling unit 1112), in the first region, of first informationthat is associated with the first user interface object, and detectselection (e.g., with the detecting unit 1116) of the second userinterface object. In response to detecting selection of the second userinterface object while the first information is displayed in the firstregion, the processing unit 1110 is configured to cause an end ofdisplay (e.g., with the display enabling unit 1112) of the firstinformation in the first region while maintaining display of the firstuser interface object, and cause display (e.g., with the displayenabling unit 1112), in the second region, of second information that isassociated with the second user interface object.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1110 is further configured toreceive input (e.g., with the receiving unit 1114) scrolling the firstand second user interface objects, and, in response to the inputscrolling the first and second user interface objects, scroll (e.g.,with the display enabling unit 1112) the first region along with thefirst user interface object and scroll (e.g., with the display enablingunit 1112) the second region along with the second user interfaceobject.

In some embodiments, the first information includes one or moreselectable items including a first menu item. The processing unit 1110is further configured to, while the first user interface object isselected, receive a selection (e.g., with the receiving unit 1114) ofthe first selectable item, and, in response to the selection of thefirst menu item, present (e.g., with the display enabling unit 1112) afirst user interface response corresponding to the first selectableitem.

In some embodiments, the second information includes one or more menuitems including a second selectable item. The processing unit 1110 isfurther configured to, while the second user interface object isselected, receive a selection (e.g., with the receiving unit 1114) ofthe second selectable item, and, in response to the selection of thesecond selectable item, present (e.g., with the display enabling unit1112) a second user interface response corresponding to the secondselectable item.

In some embodiments, the one or more selectable items of the firstinformation are different from the one or more selectable items of thesecond information. In some embodiments, the first user interface objectcorresponds to a first content item, the second user interface objectcorresponds to a second content item, the first user interface responseis associated with the first content item, and the second user interfaceresponse is associated with the second content item. In someembodiments, the one or more selectable items of the first informationinclude text describing actions to be performed with respect to thefirst content item, and the one or more selectable items of the secondinformation include text describing actions to be performed with respectto the second content item. In some embodiments, the first informationfurther includes text describing the first content item, and the secondinformation further includes text describing the second content item.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1110 is further configured toreceive scrolling input (e.g., with the receiving unit 1114). Inresponse to receiving the scrolling input, the processing unit 1110 isfurther configured to, in accordance with a determination that the firstuser interface object is selected, scroll (e.g., with the displayenabling unit 1112) the first information while the second userinterface object remains stationary, and in accordance with adetermination that the second user interface object is selected, scroll(e.g., with the display enabling unit 1112) the second information whilethe first user interface object remains stationary.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 1110 is further configured toalign (e.g., with the display enabling unit 1112) the first and seconduser interface objects along a first axis, and position (e.g., with thedisplay enabling unit 1112) the first region adjacent to the first userinterface object along a second axis that is substantially perpendicularto the first axis and position (e.g., with the display enabling unit1112) the second region adjacent to the second associated user interfaceobject along the second axis. In some embodiments, the first and seconduser interface objects are both images having identical spatialdimensions.

In some embodiments, the user interface includes a third user interfaceobject that is associated with a third region of the user interface thatis adjacent to the third user interface object and is different from thefirst region and the second region. The processing unit 1110 is furtherconfigured to, while the second user interface object is selected andthe second information that is associated with the second user interfaceobject is displayed in the second region, detect selection (e.g., withthe detecting unit 1116) of the third user interface object. In responseto detecting selection of the third user interface object while thesecond information is displayed in the second region, the processingunit 1110 is further configured to cause an end of display (e.g., withthe display enabling unit 1112) of the second information in the secondregion while maintaining display of the second user interface object,and cause display (e.g., with the display enabling unit 1112), in thethird region, of third information that is associated with the thirduser interface object.

The foregoing description, for purpose of explanation, has beendescribed with reference to specific embodiments. However, theillustrative discussions above are not intended to be exhaustive or tolimit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Many modificationsand variations are possible in view of the above teachings. Theembodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the invention and its practical applications, to therebyenable others skilled in the art to best use the invention and variousdescribed embodiments with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated.

1. A method comprising: at an electronic device in communication withone or more input devices and a display device: displaying, via thedisplay device, a user interface including a plurality ofrepresentations of content items; while displaying, via the displaydevice, the plurality of representations of content items, detectingthat one or more criteria are satisfied, including a criterion that issatisfied when user input corresponding to selection of a firstrespective representation of a respective content item of the pluralityof representations of content items is received via the one or moreinput devices; and in response to detecting that the one or morecriteria are satisfied: visually emphasizing the first respectiverepresentation of the respective content item; and initiating playbackof the respective content item.
 2. The method of claim 1, whereinvisually emphasizing the first respective representation of therespective content item includes scaling the first respectiverepresentation.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the visuallyemphasizing includes visually emphasizing the first respectiverepresentation of the respective content item with respect to otherrepresentations of the plurality of representations of content items. 4.The method of claim 1, further comprising: in response to detecting thatthe one or more criteria are satisfied, forgoing display, via thedisplay device, of one or more representations of the plurality ofrepresentations of content items other than the first respectiverepresentation of the respective content item.
 5. The method of claim 1,wherein: the plurality of representations of content items are displayedat respective positions in the user interface, and the first respectiverepresentation of the respective content item is located at a firstrespective position in the user interface, the method furthercomprising: while displaying the plurality of representations,detecting, via the one or more input devices, user input correspondingto a request to move a second respective representation of a secondrespective content item located at a second respective position,different from the first respective position, in the user interface; andin response to detecting the user input corresponding to the request tomove the second respective representation, moving the second respectiverepresentation of the second respective content item from the secondrespective position in the user interface to a third respective positionin the user interface, different from the first respective position andthe second respective position in the user interface.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: while the first respective representationof the respective content item is visually emphasized, detecting, viathe one or more input devices, satisfaction of second one or morecriteria include a criterion that is satisfied when user inputcorresponding to a request to present additional information isreceived, via the one or more input devices; and in response todetecting that the second one or more criteria are satisfied,displaying, via the display device, information associated with therespective content item.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the firstrespective representation of the respective content item includesartwork associated with the respective content item.
 8. The method ofclaim 1, the method further comprising: in response to the detectingthat the one or more criteria are satisfied, displaying, via the displaydevice, additional information associated with the respective contentitem, wherein the additional information is not displayed in the userinterface before detecting that the one or more criteria are satisfied.9. The method of claim 1, wherein the first respective representation ofrespective media content of the plurality of representations of mediacontent is displayed, via the display device, concurrently with firstinformation associated with the respective media content, the methodfurther comprising: while displaying, via the display device, theplurality of representations of content items, detecting that second oneor more criteria are satisfied, including a criterion that is satisfiedwhen user input scrolling the plurality of representations of contentitems is received, via the one or more input devices; and in response todetecting that the second one or more criteria are satisfied:displaying, via the display device, second information corresponding toa second respective representation of second respective media content ofthe plurality of representations of media content.
 10. The method ofclaim 1, wherein a background behind the first respective representationof the content item is based on one or more characteristics of the firstrespective representation.
 11. An electronic device comprising: one ormore processors; and memory storing one or more programs, wherein theelectronic device is in communication with one or more input devices anda display device, and wherein the one or more programs are stored in thememory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors, theone or more programs including instructions for: displaying, via thedisplay device, a user interface including a plurality ofrepresentations of content items; while displaying, via the displaydevice, the plurality of representations of content items, detectingthat one or more criteria are satisfied, including a criterion that issatisfied when user input corresponding to selection of a firstrespective representation of a respective content item of the pluralityof representations of content items is received via the one or moreinput devices; and in response to detecting that the one or morecriteria are satisfied: visually emphasizing the first respectiverepresentation of the respective content item; and initiating playbackof the respective content item.
 12. A non-transitory computer-readablemedium storing one or more programs, the one or more programs comprisinginstructions, which when executed by one or more processors of anelectronic device in communication with one or more input devices and adisplay device, cause the electronic device to perform a methodcomprising: displaying, via the display device, a user interfaceincluding a plurality of representations of content items; whiledisplaying, via the display device, the plurality of representations ofcontent items, detecting that one or more criteria are satisfied,including a criterion that is satisfied when user input corresponding toselection of a first respective representation of a respective contentitem of the plurality of representations of content items is receivedvia the one or more input devices; and in response to detecting that theone or more criteria are satisfied: visually emphasizing the firstrespective representation of the respective content item; and initiatingplayback of the respective content item.